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Movies / Upcoming / Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

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Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008)

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Reviews Counted:41

Fresh:4

Rotten:37

Average Rating:2.9/10

Consensus: Full of patronizing, poorly structured arguments, Expelled is a cynical political stunt in the guise of a documentary.

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

US Box Office: $7,499,617

Synopsis: Though Ben Stein is perhaps most famous for his sleep-inducing drone in FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF or for his eponymous game show, he is also a highly regarded New York Times columnist and was a... Though Ben Stein is perhaps most famous for his sleep-inducing drone in FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF or for his eponymous game show, he is also a highly regarded New York Times columnist and was a speechwriter for both Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford during their presidencies. For EXPELLED: NO INTELLIGENCE ALLOWED, he needs all his powers of persuasion as he calls attention to the plight of exiled scientists and professors. In this documentary, Stein travels the world and speaks to men and women who have lost their jobs and their standings in the scientific world because of their association with intelligent design. EXPELLED uses the Berlin Wall as a metaphor and asserts that these people have been unjustly ousted, merely for speaking their minds. It carefully explains the differences between creationism and intelligent design and demonstrates that the latter is a belief held by people of all deity-based faiths, not just Christianity. It also devotes time to the connections between Darwinism and Hitler's regime. The film's climax features Stein going head-to-head with Richard Dawkins, a renowned atheist and author of the bestseller THE GOD DELUSION. Obviously, neither man budges in his firmly held beliefs, but it's fascinating to watch a debate between two undeniably intelligent men, regardless of whose side you're on. EXPELLED doesn't spend most of its time debating intelligent design and evolution. Instead it focuses largely on how the debate itself and its proponents have been ignored or pushed out of classrooms and academia. Filmmaker Nathan Frankowski inserts both original animations and clips of famous films (including PLANET OF THE APES and THE WIZARD OF OZ) to further illustrate his point. Though critics may find fault with EXPELLED for its one-sidedness, it's no more biased than any of Michael Moore's critically lauded documentaries. [More]

Starring: Richard Dawkins

Starring: Richard Dawkins

Director: Nathan Frankowski

Director: Nathan Frankowski
Screenwriter: Kevin Miller, Walt Ruloff, Ben Stein
Producer: Logan Craft, Walt Ruloff, John Sullivan
Composer: Andy Hunter, Robbie Bronnimann
Studio: Rocky Mountain Pictures

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Reviews for Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Surely the film's greatest offense is the utter shamelessness with which it exploits the Holocaust.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment 6 Comments
04/18/08
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

This is propaganda, a political rant disguised as a serious commentary on stifled freedom of inquiry.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment 8 Comments
04/18/08
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It shows us bogus security files, as if some cabal is spying on everyone. It shirks the facts. And it madly edits images to equate Darwin with Hitler, and Ben Stein with -- yes -- Ronald Reagan. Typical of all propaganda, it also distorts language.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment 9 Comments
04/18/08
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

Stein's schlumpy presence is disarming, though his know-it-all nature is at odds with his free-speech posing.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment 3 Comments
04/18/08
Joe Neumaier
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News

Stein's credibility is blown on this poorly constructed diatribe, and you'd be smart to save your bucks.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment 3 Comments
04/18/08
Matt Stevens
Matt Stevens
E! Online

Expelled may prove to be as controversial as the producers hope, but the reactions will be more entertaining and elucidating than the film itself.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/18/08
John P. McCarthy
John P. McCarthy
Boxoffice Magazine

"...raises some interesting questions about evolutionary theory, but does so in such a smug, disingenuous and self-serving manner it's hard to take the movie seriously.

Full Review Source: LarsenOnFilm | comment Comment
04/18/08
Josh Larsen
Josh Larsen
LarsenOnFilm

Either the filmmakers suckered these [pro-Darwinist] participants under false pretenses, or the evolutionists are more open to debate than Stein suggests.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment 4 Comments
04/18/08
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

The movie itself is an example of design by faith and emotion rather than intelligence, defined as rationality grounded in proof.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment 18 Comments
04/18/08
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the sleaziest documentaries to arrive in a very long time, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a conspiracy-theory rant masquerading as investigative inquiry.

comment 10 Comments
04/18/08
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Stein claims to denounce the tyranny of dogma, then browbeats us with his own.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment 2 Comments
04/17/08
Rafer Guzman
Rafer Guzman
Newsday

Stein spends the first half of the movie setting himself a trap, and the second half squirming in it.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment 2 Comments
04/17/08
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post

No intelligence allowed, indeed, as Ben Stein misguidedly crusades against what he perceives as the science community’s slavish devotion to natural selection.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
04/17/08
Drew Toal
Drew Toal
Time Out New York

[T]he No. 1 agenda [here] has much less to do with academic freedom than with political ideology.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
04/16/08
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

A cynical attempt to sucker Christian conservatives into thinking they're losing the 'intelligent design' debate because of academic 'prejudice.'

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment 8 Comments
04/16/08
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

The filmmakers' intentions are kept deliberately vague but it's a surprisingly entertaining and informative doc that at least tries to address the debate over 'intelligent design' from another angle.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment 11 Comments
04/16/08
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

[I]n a saner universe... you could scoff at Stein and dismiss him and not give this propagandistic nonsense another thought. But... [y]ou need to see this movie because these people are not going away...

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment 16 Comments
04/16/08
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

For a film about American freedom of expression and the necessity for open dialogue, it's hard to imagine Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed being more one-sided, narrow-minded, and intellectually dishonest.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment 8 Comments
04/16/08
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine

Bizarre and hysterical.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
04/16/08
Vadim Rizov
Vadim Rizov
Village Voice

The man made famous by Ferris Bueller, however, quickly wades into waters far too deep for him.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment 9 Comments
04/15/08
Jeffrey Kluger
Jeffrey Kluger
TIME Magazine
 
 
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