A must see!
From Wikipedia:
Reviews for Religulous were generally positive, with some mixed and negative reviews. The film received a "Fresh" rating of 68% at Rotten Tomatoes based on 92 reviews,[22] and a "mixed" score of 55 out of 100 at Metacritic based on 29 reviews.[23] Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a rating of three and a half out of four stars, and wrote: "I report faithfully that I laughed frequently. You may very well hate it, but at least you've been informed. Perhaps you could enjoy the material about other religions, and tune out when yours is being discussed. That's only human nature."[24] Roger Moore of The Orlando Sentinel gave the film a rating of four out of five stars,[7] as did Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News, who characterized Religulous as "Bill Maher at his best".[25] The film received a rating of three out of four stars from Kyle Smith of the New York Post.[26] Robert W. Butler of The Kansas City Star gave the film a rating of three stars, and commented: "The film is one-sided, less a measured argument than a bunch of rants and barbed observations. But it’s also very funny, which trumps everything else."[27] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a rating of A-, and wrote: "The movie is funny as...well, hell."[28] Steve Persall of the St. Petersburg Times also gave the film a rating of A-, and commented: "If he offends your particular faith, Maher will soon have you laughing at someone else's, wondering how 'those people' could be so gullible."[29]
The Canadian Press said the movie "delivers a laugh-out loud attack on the most sacred of cows."[30] Christie Lemire, of the Associated Press, wrote: "If you're an atheist or an agnostic, you'll be completely on board and happy to tag along with Maher as he travels the globe asking people about their faith - everywhere from Jerusalem to the Vatican to Amsterdam, where he finds not only the Cannabis Ministry but also a Muslim gay bar (with two people in it)."[31] John Anderson of Newsday wrote: "much that's funny, insightful and thought-provoking. But it certainly doesn't give the religious a lot of slack."[32] Jay Stone of Canwest News Service described the film as "hilarious, sacrilegious and exhausting".[33] Writing for Variety, Robert Koehler wrote that Maher has made a successful transition from a minor comic to a social critic: "Considering he was once a minor comic and a supporting thesp in generally awful film comedies, Maher’s transformation into one of America’s sharpest social critics is remarkable. He takes no script credit, but his periodic monologues to the camera are undeniably written, and written well."[34]
In a review for The New York Times, Stephen Holden wrote that "the movie has the same loose, on-the-road structure" as Larry Charles' previous film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan and commented: "Much of Mr. Maher’s film is extremely funny in a similarly irreverent, offhanded way."[35] Claudia Puig of USA Today wrote: "those with a taste for irreverent humor and clear-eyed analysis will find it funny, enlightening and disturbing."[36] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter characterized the film as "An often hilarious but relentlessly shallow attack on religious fundamentalism by humorist Bill Maher".[37] Louis Peitzman of the San Francisco Bay Guardian wrote that "It doesn't even matter that he goes out of his way to be offensive, as he's consistently funny enough to pull it off."[38] Scott Indrisek wrote at Style.com that: "Religulous earns many of its laughs from skillful editing, with Maher's interviews jazzed up by video clips".[39]
Some reviews have been negative.
James Berardinelli wrote, "If the subject of religion is as important to Maher as he claims during his end comments, then he should have followed those words with actions and made a movie that's more than a sum of inauthentic interviews, ranting attacks, and obvious observations. The choir may hum along with Maher but the rest of those watching this movie will be singing the blues."
[40] Nick Schager of
Slant Magazine called it an "atheistic wannabe-dissection of modern faith" and compared it to
Ben Stein's
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed in that he considered both films to have "[employed] a similar, debilitating brand of smug disingenuousness, feigning interest in discussion while arrogantly and speciously preaching in the very same manner that their subjects are ridiculed for".
[41] Armond White wrote a critical review of the film in
New York Press, and commented: "To scoff at the foundations of charity, justice and love that hold people together, that’s what’s ridiculous."
[42] Ben Kenigsberg of
Time Out New York gave the film a rating of three out of six stars, and wrote: "The worst scenes in Religulous are appalling for their methods; the best are appalling for their information."
[43] Rick McGinnis of
Metro gave the film low marks, concluding that "Maher is preaching to the choir with an undisguised dishonesty that only the true believers will forgive."
Movie Miguel Rating: 09.00 out of 10
(Last reviewed on 10.17.07)
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