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Online Store - Everything Is Illuminated
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List Price: $19.98
Our Price: $13.99
Your Save: $ 5.99 ( 30% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Elijah Wood, Eugene Hutz, Boris Leskin, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jana Hrabetova
Directed By: Liev Schreiber
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0012569593428
Format: AC-3
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2006-03-21
Running Time: 106
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2005-09-16
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Editorial Reviews:
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Based on the critically-acclaimed novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, "Everything is Illuminated" tells the story of a young man's quest to find the woman who saved his grandfather in a small Ukrainian town that was wiped off the map by the Nazi invasion. What starts out as a journey to piece together one family's story under absurd circumstances turns into a meaningful journey with a powerful series of revelations -- the importance of remembrance, the perilous nature of secrets, the legacy of the Holocaust, and the meaning of friendship. DVD Features:
Additional Scenes
Theatrical Trailer
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Love the dog!
Comment: Life is not all sad and tragic. Neither is it sunshine and butterflies every day. I love films that take the balance of life--its griefs, joys and absurdities--and present them in a way that enables us to see ourselves and our own lives.
Elijah Wood once again finds a role in which he can shape-shift into a character who is decidedly not like him, yet he makes that character real. In fact, all the actors in this film--including the dog--give poignant and profound performances. (Ohhh, Grandpa!!!) This is a wonderful little film.
Customer Rating:
Summary: woman of the household
Comment: A surprising and refreshing film. I laughed & cried (the best kind of movie, I think). I had originally rented it & decided that I must purchase it to watch again and again. I find new information with each viewing.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Everything is Illuminated
Comment: What a great movie! The characters are funny and likeable. The story is so funny and human then takes an incredibly poignant turn.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Disjointed And Forced
Comment: I found the film to be very disjointed. Before I inserted the disc into my player I read the description on the box and some online reviews. They make much of a young man's search for an old woman who knew his grandfather during the Holocaust sixty years ago. Then I started the movie, and I was confused by the use of hiphop music by Alex, the tour guide.
Don't get me wrong. I like Dr. Dre and other rappers, and I like learning about the Holocaust. But Alex's shtick felt very forced. The protagonist Jonathan's positive reaction to Alex's shtick made Jonathan seem phony and obsequious, as if he were saying, "I have to play along with hiphop in order to please these young people, and I have to play along with other more somber people in order to please my grandfather and his generation." That sounds like the attitude of a Bar Mitzvah boy with ambitions of making big bucks at his father's moneylending firm and he tells each party guest what he/she wants to hear.
I won't spoil the end of this film. I will say the grandfather's final scene also felt forced and out of synch with what he had said and done throughout the movie. By contrast, the character of Maude in "Harold and Maude" is a Holocaust survivor, and I felt her final scene was in synch with everything else. She doesn't want to live past her 80th birthday, and she says that in the beginning. Granted, "Harold and Maude" is not really about the Holocaust, but there are literally hundreds of other movies and TV documentaries that are indeed about it, and they are all superior to "Everything Is Illuminated." Some of them were even made during the Vietnam War, such as "The Garden of the Finzi-Continis" and a color film from as far back as 1967 starring Anthony Quinn and Virna Lisi: "The 25th Hour."
I hate to denigrate something that Liev Schreiber put so much work into. He's a terrific actor. I loved him in "Kate and Leopold," and I saw him do Shakespeare in a New York theater. But he must choose better material to direct. Maybe I should read the book of "Everything Is Illuminated." Some books just don't translate to the screen. No matter what I may find in the book, I just cannot stomach this movie. I recommend the other three Holocaust films I named above. They are all easily available.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Inspiring
Comment: This DVD is based on the book by JSF. This is a movie you will appreciate if you appreciate art and detail. It's not a summer blockbuster for sure. The movie carefully takes you through the story and you feel like you are walking alongside the characters. It's a great story and the actors do a great job in their roles. I recommend this movie especially if you have been to Eastern Europe for any length of time.
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