The Memory Thief (2008)
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80% of critics liked it
(15 reviews) -
41% of users liked it
(224 ratings)
For Lukas (Mark Webber), an ambitionless, socially isolated tollbooth worker, each day is indistinguishable from the next -- filled, from the onset of work until the end of shift, with thousands of cars that slide through his station. Day in and day out, he must contend with the monotony of the… More For Lukas (Mark Webber), an ambitionless, socially isolated tollbooth worker, each day is indistinguishable from the next -- filled, from the onset of work until the end of shift, with thousands of cars that slide through his station. Day in and day out, he must contend with the monotony of the work, the rage of the drivers, and the nauseating stench of exhaust. Lukas' life turns an odd corner when a bigoted driver haphazardly tosses a copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf into his booth in lieu of a fare; curious, Lukas retrieves the book and begins to comb through it, which catches the eye of yet another driver, this one a Holocaust survivor. Mistakenly inferring that the boy is a neo-Nazi, the gentleman passes Lukas a videocassette of his testimony about the Holocaust, produced by an organization that specializes in creating such films. Lukas not only takes this as a cue and seeks out the said organization to learn more about it, but (devoid of memories from his own past) begins to acquire a persistent delusion that he himself is both Jewish and a Holocaust survivor; in time, he becomes deeply emotionally involved and smitten with Mira Zweig (Rachel Miner), the attractive daughter of an actual survivor (Jerry Adler). ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Directed By
- Gil Kofman
- Genres
- Mystery & Suspense, Drama
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Apr 14, 2007 Wide
- Studio
- Sony Pictures Classics
Critic Reviews
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Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times
There are intriguing issues swirling around the film, but [director] Kofman never brings it to a boil, never finds the deeper, truer meaning inside the ideas he is grappling with.
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Leba Hertz, San Francisco Chronicle
Director Gil Kofman's attempt is noble in trying to show this descent into madness, but something rings false.
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Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
In The Memory Thief, a strange and melancholy journey to the heart of madness, a rootless young man finds meaning in the horrors of a stolen past.
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Vadim Rizov, Village Voice
The film is (perhaps deliberately) as unbalanced as its protagonist, one whose fury ultimately seems directed either nowhere in particular or in too many directions at once -- until things eventually devolve into a Taxi Driver riff.
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Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader
Kofman includes real-life Holocaust survivors in his cast, a bold and unsettling stroke in a fictional story that's more challenging than most documentaries about the subject.
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Cast
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Mark Webber
as Lukas
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Rachel Miner
as Mira
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Jerry Adler
as Mr. Zweig
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Allan Rich
as Zvi Birnbaum
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Peter Jacobson
as Mr. Freeman
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Douglas Spain
as Dominic
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Stella Hudgens
as Amanda
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Carlos Gomez
as Amanda's Father
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Karen Landry
as Mother
- Chris Ellis
- Kevin Breznahan
- Patrick Bauchau
- Brian Patrick Farrell
- Jamie Fox
