Using sledgehammer gags in the service of a dissent-bashing tale, Zucker aims for the flag-waving brio of Warner Bros. cartoons during World War II, but he succeeds only in ruining Farley’s big break.
Comment
04/23/09
An American Carol (2008)
13
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:40
Fresh:5
Rotten:35
Average Rating:3/10
Consensus: An American Carol suffers not so much from its perceived political bias, but from the fact that it simply is not very funny.
Runtime: 83 mins
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $6,960,000
Synopsis: Director David Zucker (AIRPLANE, NAKED GUN) returns to the satire genre with AN AMERICAN CAROL. The political spoof stars Kevin Farley (brother of the late comedian Chris Farley) as Michael Malone,... [More]
Starring: Leslie Nielsen, Kevin Farley, Kelsey Grammer, Trace Adkins
Director: David Zucker
Reviews for An American Carol
just too insular to be engaging
12/31/08
What could have been an amusing riff looks more like a propaganda film out to destroy Moore rather than spoof him.
11/20/08
The gags come fast and furiously with one-liners to make the case that liberals don't have exclusive rights to humor in Hollywood.
11/15/08
... the jokes are lame and the caricatures too removed from any defensible reality.
11/12/08
An American Carol dares to mock the Left, but it forgets to bring the funny.
10/31/08
Zucker's film reeks of a deeply insecure psychosis, one that's often insultingly mislabeled as patriotism -- which is how it gets away with wrapping itself in red, white and blue while simultaneously ridiculing our Bill Of Rights.
10/29/08
Nice try, but I'd watch Airplane! again first.
10/18/08
This movie is seriously unfunny, and it's not just my admittedly left-wing politics that are in the way of my getting the joke.
10/18/08
Overall, Zucker's cinematic middle finger is about as funny as an exploding toilet seat for hemorrhoid-induced senior citizens...a dreary picture mired in sophomoric sludge.
10/14/08
Utterly asinine, sophomoric, tasteless, the movie has much in common with Zucker's Airplane!, The Naked Gun 2 1/2 and Scary Movie sequels, minus the laughs.
10/13/08
...too unfocused and ill-disciplined to work either as Dickens pastiche or as political satire.
10/10/08
There's a good idea for a movie here: Someone considered poking fun at liberal filmmaker Michael Moore. The only problem with 'An American Carol' is that it's not funny.
10/10/08
Right-wing political comedy just isn't funny.
10/07/08
This is an uneven, uninspired, tired spoof that has about 10 funny jokes throughout.
10/07/08
As entertainment, An American Carol ranks below YouTube clips of Sarah Palin.
10/06/08
Forget politics: An American Carol sucks simply because it's ridiculously, painfully unfunny.
10/06/08
Forget about politics for a moment...Carol is first and foremost a terrible piece of filmmaking, marred by bad performances, cringe-inducing dialogue and amateurish direction.
10/06/08
How dumb does Hollywood think American conservatives are? Not half as dumb as conservative filmmaker David Zucker thinks they are.
10/06/08
Poorly made indie production has a script that feels like a list of ripostes collected over the last several years to liberal criticisms of the U.S.: The whole enterprise feels far more agenda- than entertainment-driven.
10/06/08
Top CriticLatest News for An American Carol
January 03, 2009:
A liberal witch hunt in court jester clothing, certain to have Charles Dickens roll over in his grave. An American Carol: Huh?! Cinema at its foulest. 
More...
December 29, 2008:
RT on DVD: A Matthew McConaughey Stinker or Event Horizon on Blu-ray?
It's officially the last DVD release week of the year, although much like the box office, most big-ticket new releases debuted last week in time for Christmas. Nevertheless,... More...
October 31, 2008:
A liberal witch hunt in court jester clothing, and in-your-face politics presumably to coincide with the election, while certain to have Charles Dickens roll over in his grave. An American Carol: Huh?! Cinema at its foulest.
More...
October 19, 2008:
LiveJournal.com: A liberal witch hunt in court jester clothing, certain to have Charles Dickens roll over in his grave. An American Carol: Huh?! Cinema at its foulest.
More...
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