Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.

"Bonhoeffer" is a movie with an important message for the United States in 2024 -- sadly! The importance of standing up to the forces of evil, repression, hatred, discrimination and fascism cannot be said loudly or often enough.

As a "bio pic," the film takes historical liberties in retelling the life of theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but does a credible job of portraying his deep faith, the fervor of his Christian convictions, and his dedication to the anti-Nazi struggle which ultimately cost him his life. Pastor Bonhoeffer was indeed a mid-century hero, and this film presents him as such.

The movie's biggest shortcoming was in failing to capture and represent the great drama and conflicts that underlaid Bonhoeffer's personal relationships and passionate religious/political commitments. Emotionally the story fell flat (for me) at key junctures, even to the extent of lacking much affect at points of high drama. As a result I didn't feel as connected or engaged to the title character as I wanted to be.

Nonetheless, I recommend this film; it deserves wide viewership.

Well clarified the passion and resolve of B and the confessing church. Loved the flashback model, the cast was well selected, the film moved along well. Loved the portrayal of B's relationship with his brother Walter and the depth of family connection and love. Being that the plight of the Jewish people under Hitler was a central focus I was surprised there was no mention of B's twin sister being married to a Jewish man and moving to England. Well done over all. I shed tears and wish I will one day be as courageous as B if faced with such choices. Thanks for producing this film. I recommend it.

As a date married couple's night movie, it was fine. The imagery was marvelous. The casting was good; some even great.

But the actual story telling was pretty awful in that there were many points in the movie when we looked at each other with "what the heck?" expressions and later discussions. Too much was cued up and left hanging, or even made confusing to the point of unlikely or absurd. It's as if the screenwriter continually wrote himself into a corner, and then just jarringly jumped over an immense plot hole or critical detail, and into the next scene. You shouldn't need such a Deus ex Machina when you've got the real God in the story!

The biggest flaw, though, is that with actual well-documented history like Bonhoeffer's, the emotion should not have come from over-acting, pregnant pauses and close-up tears. It should come from the true story all by itself.

And that part, sorry to say, was mostly missing.

I agree with other reviews that found two major faults with this movie.

AUTHOR. The movie tells us (in the scripts) that B wrote many many books about faith. Yet the movie itself never shows him writing or publishing or discussing any books. The most we see is B writing his thoughts in a journal.

ASSASSIN. Yes historically there were many failed plots to assassinate Hitler, and in fact the movie shows us such a plot. But there are no facts in the movie to show that B was ever arrested or charged with this. It's a very serious gap in the story.

BOTTOM LINE. I'm sorry, but I think B deserves a better script and a livelier story. The movie Valkarie with Tom Cruise (a non religious story) that depicts a failed assassination attempt on Hitler is a good example.

The Bonhoeffer movie could have used a lot more action to break up what were tedious conversations about faith in the face of evil.

There was more to D Bonhoeffer's life that was not covered in the film. In contrast, there was much about his time learning about the African American culture of the 30's with jazz and church life, which I did not see tie out with his strong convictions relating to the Nazi persecution of the Jews in Germany. Would have liked to see more about his writings and better understand how pretending to join the Nazi helped him fight against them.

I learned about his life and the very sad inaction from the German Christian Church during this time. In our times, the Church, must shed light on evil and not be afraid to do so.