The Believer made me into a believer in Ryan Gosling, I'll start with that. This kid has got the goods and give him a couple years and he'll be the new Edward Norton. The Believer is also a far more daring and insightful film than American History X. The latter film was a good movie largely because of the brilliant performance of Norton, but to some degree that film shot itself in the foot, by trading on Hollywood clichés and taking the easy way out.

The Believer does no such thing. Ryan Gosling plays a white supremacist skin-head who is in truth Jewish and was raised as such and is an expert on every nuance of the complicated practice of Judaism. And though he does commit violent acts toward Jews and other ethnic groups, he also secretly maintains his reverence for the practices, beliefs and scripture of the Jewish faith.

This character does much too enlighten the viewer of both sides of this issue and this dichotomy between deeds and belief make this a most compelling film. Whether or not there is supposed to be a Messianic message mixed in with this study of the fine line between love and hate I won't hazard a guess. As disturbing as this film is, it was able to tell this story without really taking sides, or even passing judgment in any sort of damning way on those who would hate.

It also stars Billy Zane as the leader of a fascist revival organization and Theresa Russell as his zealous wife. Summer Phoenix is also fascinating as the daughter (or niece) of Zane and her relationship with Gosling is like nothing you've ever seen before. At the end of the day, however, this is Gosling's show and he tucks it under his arm and heads for the end zone - literally. Toward the end of the movie the articulate and knowledgeable character that Gosling portrays is asked to speak at a fund-raiser of like-minded individuals of money and power and the speech he delivers - the message, the solution he posits is the most thought-provoking thing I've seen in a movie for quite some time.