68
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80TimeRichard CorlissTimeRichard CorlissA romantic comedy so smart and sweetly mature, it's liberating.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranFunny 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.
- 75New York Daily NewsJami BernardNew York Daily NewsJami BernardWolfgang Becker's premise is absurdist and makes great sense as political satire.
- 70Film ThreatFilm ThreatRelies heavily on strong performances from Brühl and Sass to make the illusion believable.
- 70VarietyEddie CockrellVarietyEddie CockrellThis 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.
- 70The A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe A.V. ClubNathan RabinSurprisingly successful blend of goofy political farce and sober family drama.
- 70L.A. WeeklyElla TaylorL.A. WeeklyElla TaylorDirector 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.
- 60Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanOverlong and a bit tiresome but it's actually about something.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttWill 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.
- 50The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottMuch 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.