Philadelphia Weekly critics Sean Burns and Matt Prigge in their Oscar roundtable:
MP: I’m no fan of The Reader, but better that than, say, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. At least The Reader tries, however clumsily, to say something original about the Holocaust, and even goes to some genuinely uncomfortable places. And give Harvey some credit: This Ilsa: Tortured She-Wolf of the SS thing is a tough sell.I dare them to put that on the poster.SB: I’ll give them credit for making a Holocaust movie you can masturbate to. It’s been a long time since The Night Porter.
MP: Wow.