The Reader (2008)

The Reader asks you to feel something complicated for a woman who once worked as a guard for the SS, and how you answer decides the whole movie. It begins in 1950s West Germany with a summer affair with an older woman, Kate Winslet’s Hanna, then jumps ahead to a courtroom where David Kross’s Michael, now a law student, recognizes her among the defendants. The trial is the strongest stretch. Bruno Ganz’s professor presses his students on what justice means, and Lena Olin and Alexandra Maria Lara, as a mother and daughter who survived, give the film its clearest moral voice. Winslet is remarkable and hard to read. Ralph Fiennes plays the grown Michael so withdrawn that the last third goes cold, and the film spends so much care on Hanna’s inner life that the victims slip to the edges. It made $108.9 million worldwide on a reported $32M. A 6.6 because the acting is superb and the moral focus wobbles. $392 says you bring it up with a friend this week and the conversation outlasts the movie.

What works: Kate Winslet is remarkable, and the trial scenes with Bruno Ganz, Lena Olin and Alexandra Maria Lara are handled with real seriousness.

What doesn’t: The adult Michael is so withdrawn that the final act turns cold, and the film centers Hanna’s feelings more than her victims’.

Who it’s for: Older teens and adults who want a serious drama about guilt and memory, ideally followed by a real conversation.