70
Relies heavily on strong performances from Brühl and Sass to make the illusion believable.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
50
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
Much too long. It starts to feel like a flabby, dramatic version of the first "Austin Powers" movie, another exercise in living anachronism as a storytelling device. By the time the picture's final note about German reunification is struck, "Lenin!" has raised a wall of indifference for the audience.
70
This triumph of historical verisimilitude in the service of solid storytelling requires no detailed knowledge of the period to be appreciated as the moving story of a son's unconditional love for his mother.
70
Director Becker and his sharp screenwriter, Bernd Lichtenberg, come less to bury communism than to hurl darts at the Western commodity culture that floods East Berlin.
60
Overlong and a bit tiresome but it's actually about something.
75
New York Daily News by Jami Bernard
Wolfgang Becker's premise is absurdist and makes great sense as political satire.
80
Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan
Funny but not a comedy, serious but never overbearing, emotional in an engaging and bittersweet way, Good Bye, Lenin! is a wonderful film unto itself about a world unto itself.
50
The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt
Will richly award locals with sly in-jokes and a wonderful comic performance by Bruhl. Non-Germans will certainly get the essence of the humor but may find the movie long and repetitive.
70
Surprisingly successful blend of goofy political farce and sober family drama.
80
A romantic comedy so smart and sweetly mature, it's liberating.
This is a wonderful movie. The acting is excellent and the story rings true even to someone who has never lived through the end of soviet rule in East-Germany. A little melodramatic at times, but it always rings true and is a heartbreaking portrayal of familial love.