Devil's Arithmetic (1999)

67% of users liked it
(4,195 ratings)

Kirsten Dunst stars in this drama as a Jewish teenager who doesn't care much about her family's religious heritage until she's transported back in time to Poland in 1941, where she learns a valuable lesson about the struggles of her family -- and her people. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 40 min.
Directed By: Donna Deitch
Written By: Robert J. Avrech
Genres: Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy

In Theaters: Mar 28, 1999 Wide
On DVD: Sep 21, 2004

No Critic Reviews Found…

Featured Audience Ratings

Daniel P

Alternate title: "And This Is Why It's Important to Be a Good Little Jewish Girl." I know, I know, the film was based on a novel for children, so some simplification can't be avoided, and it was made for TV, which doesn't help. As a movie that was shot in… More
Alternate title: "And This Is Why It's Important to Be a Good Little Jewish Girl." I know, I know, the film was based on a novel for children, so some simplification can't be avoided, and it was made for TV, which doesn't help. As a movie that was shot in Toronto and in Vilnius, Lithuania (where I spent part of the summer of 2011, and learned a lot about Jewish Lithuanian history), I almost wish I had paid money for it, but it was so bad, I'm glad that I didn't. To yoke Passover and the Holocaust in this way feels cheap, and the heavy-handedness makes it virtually unwatchable. Kirsten Dunst and Brittany Murphy are head and shoulders above the rest of the cast, talent-wise, though Murphy's performance (and accent) wavers from good to horribly over-acted and back a few times before the film ends. A well-intentioned film that, if not for its clunky explanatory frame and its clichéd, brutally-written middle, might have been worth watching; as it is, though, it's highly skippable.
Leigh R

Nice. We should NEVER forget what really happened.
Leo L

A touching film.