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06/24/06
The Talent Given Us (2004)
58
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:48
Fresh:28
Rotten:20
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: The Talent Given Us is an odd hybrid of reality and fiction, but works due to its engaging characters.
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Like a cinema vérité version of THE DAYTRIPPERS, writer-director Andrew Wagner's quirky indie dramedy THE TALENT GIVEN US fashions a hilarious, unconventional, but ultimately moving take on family... [More]
Starring: Allen Wagner, Judy Wagner, Emily Wagner, Maggie Wagner
Director: Andrew Wagner
Reviews for The Talent Given Us
Top CriticClick to read the article
12/06/05
Top Critic...confounding, funny, horrifying, and eventually irresistibly absorbing.
06/30/05
It's tough to describe The Talent Given Us, which is why it's fascinating.
09/22/05
[A] one-of-a-kind movie that sends the family road-trip genre happily spinning into these self-obsessed, overanalytical times; it's National Lampoon's Vacation as re-imagined by Dr. Phil.
10/13/05
Faux documentary, home movie or unexpurgated family therapy? The Talent Given Us, a funny, surprising ride with a mercurial New York clan, is all three.
10/13/05
This isn't a movie, it's a thingamajig -- frequently as off-putting as can be, but unassailably one of a kind.
06/16/05
This raw, fascinating, often unpleasant film is not in the least coy about its queasy mix of exploitation and therapeutic exhibitionism.
06/14/05
The Talent Given Us appalls as much as it entertains.
06/30/05
If you have the chance to be an onlooker on the Wagner's family trip though, you should drop everything and get on board.
06/18/05
Weird and wonderful.
06/17/05
Wagner achieves a certain intimacy that couldn’t be captured with a camera present in a standard documentary, and couldn’t be recreated by anyone other than a close relative.
06/18/05
If you enjoy HBO's cult hit Curb Your Enthusiasm, you're almost guaranteed to enjoy this bawdy, heartbreaking, deeply discomfiting mockumentary.
09/29/05
A warm, funny and often touching character study.
06/19/05
travels to some very unexpected places with its warts and all dissection of a family dynamic
08/30/05
A work of inspired, embarrassingly hilarious, uncomfortable fiction.
09/23/05
A film of uncommon originality.
06/29/05
Its remarkable candor is like spending a memorably hilarious, harrowing and unforgettable weekend with your wacky in-laws.
06/17/05
Andrew Wagner's strange and delightful movie shouldn't work but does rather remarkably.
06/16/05
Top CriticThe unwashed talent and originality of "The Talent Given Us" makes it a compelling and fascinating film.
12/01/05
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