I'm all for a documentary about the mass hysteria of our warring creeds, but stand-up satirist Bill Maher turns out to be the wrong man to make it.
Religulous (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:141
Fresh:98
Rotten:43
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: Religulous is funny and offensive in equal measure, and aims less to change hearts and minds than to inspire conversation.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for some language and sexual material.
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:03-04-2009
Synopsis: Bill Maher travels to Israel, England, the Netherlands, Vatican City, and across America, speaking to people about faith and religion in the very funny documentary RELIGULOUS. Maher, a stand-up... Bill Maher travels to Israel, England, the Netherlands, Vatican City, and across America, speaking to people about faith and religion in the very funny documentary RELIGULOUS. Maher, a stand-up comedian who has hosted the talk shows POLITICALLY INCORRECT on ABC and REAL TIME on HBO and has written such bestsellers as DOES ANYBODY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT? and WHEN YOU RIDE ALONE, YOU RIDE WITH BIN LADEN, reaches out to religious leaders as well as regular folk on the street, discussing the existence of God and the importance of organized religion. Maher makes it clear from the start that he is not a fan of religion and does not believe in God, and he has fun skewering people who do--including Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Mormons, rabbis, priests, politicians, scientists, evangelical ministers, and even a preacher whose church is a converted truck. He also visits such places as the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Florida, where he interviews the actor who plays Jesus in a live show there, and the Red Light District in Amsterdam, notorious for its legalized drugs and prostitution. As he has done on his television programs and in his books, Maher questions literal interpretations of the Bible, seeing it more as a collection of fairy tales. Director Larry Charles (BORAT, CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM) intersperses clips from Hollywood films about religion to punctuate Maher's points, often to hilarious effect. The soundtrack is also used effectively, including such songs as the Doobie Brothers' "Jesus Is Just Alright," Ben Folds's "Jesusland," and Billy Bragg and Wilco's "Christ for President." Like such Michael Moore documentaries as FAHRENHEIT 9/11 and BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, Maher's RELIGULOUS uses humor--and lots of cynicism and sarcasm--to examine controversial theories and topics that people feel very strongly about, no matter what side of the fence they are on. In addition to making audiences laugh, RELIGULOUS will make them think. [More]
Starring: Bill Maher, Kathy Maher, Julie Maher, Mark Pryor
Starring: Bill Maher, Kathy Maher, Julie Maher, Mark Pryor, Andrew Newberg, Ray Suarez, Francis Collins, Brian Weiss, Aki Nawaz
Director: Larry Charles
Director: Larry Charles
Producer: Bill Maher, Jonah Smith, Palmer West
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Reviews for Religulous
Maher has gone for easy targets. He comes up with the odd funny gag, but you get the feeling that he is as dogmatic about his doubt as the believers are about their faith.
Often funny, frequently unfair, mostly simplistic, at times offensively unethical and ultimately limited.
It was much more thought-provoking than I was expecting, but his blatant bias made me feel that he was no less a fundamentalist than the religious people he was criticising.
Over-extended but nonetheless thought provoking and humorous documentary.
Fortunately for filmgoers, the sight of Bill Maher laying the smacketh down on God is, to quote Homer Simpson, truly "sacrilicious".
Maher crucifies the kooks. What he singularly fails to do, though, is engage with anyone sensible. By mocking the loonies he squanders the precious high ground. A real pity.
Shooting fish in a barrel is the order of the day in comedian Bill Maher's faintly tiresome attack on religion.
A refreshingly courageous and long overdue lecture that is equally enlightening, entertaining and provocative.
Religulous isn’t all it could have been: Maher spends too much of his interactions with believers of various stripe scoring easy points off the mad and stupid.
Maher's theories will get up the nose of believers of almost every creed, but his strategy of mocking easy targets will shake few temples worldwide.
It's not an exploration, it's a smart-arse going into situations just to confirm his own prejudices.
It’s a rare film that can simultaneously crack you up and send a chill down your spine. Worth seeing — even for believers.
It's pretty easy to take the piss out of religious kitsch, as Maher does. It would have been more instructive (if less chucklesome) if he'd risked an argument with an accredited theologian.
That’s the trouble with Religulous —it is funny but never very acute.
It’s not a cinematic event in the same way that nuclear Jihad would be, but that’s exactly what Maher is pleading with humanity to avoid. A must-see.
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