Could have been a tour de force for director Paul Schrader and his cast, and the glimpses of greatness make the reality all the more disappointing.
Comment
12/16/08
Adam Resurrected (2008)
36
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:36
Fresh:13
Rotten:23
Average Rating:5.1/10
Consensus: Such an unusual tale might have made for a compelling drama, but Adam Resurrected suffers from narrative confusion and an emotional detachment at its core.
Synopsis: The trouble with Holocaust movies is that they're about the Holocaust; they resurrect an illustrious horror, habited by history's most reliable demons, with little to say except that, yes, this was... [More]
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Derek Jacobi, Ayelet Zurer
Director: Paul Schrader
Reviews for Adam Resurrected
This is the rare film that is memorable, affecting, and bad.
12/11/08
I can tentatively recommend it if only because there has never been anything like it in the history of cinema as far as I can remember.
12/10/08
It seems to have been written in a tone of magical realism, but the director is Paul Schrader, a filmmaker who has many talents, but no feel for whimsy, let alone magic.
12/19/08
A well-acted, sporadically intriguing drama that has a few poignant moments...but its convoluted, unfocused plot fails to pack an emotional wallop as a whole.
01/31/09
The conclusion of the film conveys a sense of moderate relief over life-altering transformation, shortchanging the miracle Goldblum is working overtime to achieve.
12/18/08
Between Jeff Goldblum's wildly over-mannered performance and the schlocky treatment of serious subject matter, it's hard to know whether to simply dismiss the film or be outraged by it.
12/11/08
"Slaughter House Five" meets "The Night Porter" in director Paul Schrader's energetic adaptation of Yoran Kaniuk's 1968 novel about former cabaret star Adam Stein (brilliantly played by Jeff Goldblum).
12/06/08
...a wrong-headed and surprisingly interminable failure from prolific filmmaker Schrader.
10/28/08
It offers little justification for a viewer to sit through such a depressing film.
11/25/08
Jeff Goldblum transforms even his lanky befuddlement into tall dignity here and ends up giving the intellectually mature performance of his career.
12/10/08
Jeff Goldblum gives a remarkable range to the title character, from the theatrical flair of his cabaret performances to his deep anguish at an Israeli cemetery.
12/11/08
One cannot recommend this film strongly enough.
12/18/08
Grapples with important themes and is expertly made, but is simply too odd and off-putting to be anything more than an almost grotesque curiosity.
01/05/09
In a less competitive year, Jeff Goldblum would have had a shot at an Oscar nod.
12/19/08
Top CriticThere's no doubt about this one extending [Paul Schrader's] run of low profile non-events.
12/11/08
An experience that is intellectual where it should be emotional, one belonging more on the stage than on the screen, a picture to be respected more than wrapped up in.
11/05/08
For all the nightmarish scenes conceived as a creepy cross between Burroughs and Weisel, we don't receive the cathartic satisfaction typically related to the dramatization of Jewish tragedy.
12/22/08
Might have been a touching story of deep irony if Schrader's approach didn't suffer so much from narrative confusion in an effort to convey the disorientation at its center.
11/14/08
Especially disappointing after Schrader's precise and undervalued character study The Walker, though by this point it should be clear that erraticism is a key facet of his artistry.
10/22/08
Latest News for Adam Resurrected
October 30, 2008:
DIY Distribution Comes of Age 
Once strictly the realm of the truly hard to watch, DIY film distribution is on the upswing among filmmakers disenchanted with the studio system. More...
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