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Religulous

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Religulous (2008)

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Reviews Counted:144

Fresh:100

Rotten:44

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.

Australian Rating: M [See Full Rating] Sexual references, coarse language, drug use and themes

Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins

Genre: Comedies

Australian Theatrical Release:
Dec 10, 2009 Wide

US Box Office: $12,995,673

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

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Reviews for Religulous

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1 - 20 (sorted by comments; Australian critics are listed first)
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Borat/Bruno meets Michael Moore in this funny and thought provoking attack on religion.

Full Review Source: FILMINK (Australia) | comment Comment
12/09/09
Dov Kornits
Dov Kornits
FILMINK (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

So if you are not already on-side with [Maher's] particular leanings, the pickings in Religulous are very slim indeed.

Full Review Source: Herald Sun (Australia) | comment Comment
12/09/09
Leigh Paatsch
Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Rather disconcertingly, the film builds towards a vision of the apocalypse, the destructive fate that religious conflicts have in store for us -- a version of the future any hellfire preacher would be proud of.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
12/09/09
Philippa Hawker
Philippa Hawker
The Age (Australia)
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It's meant to "prove" that religious belief and intelligence are mutually exclusive. If you believe that, this movie is for you. For everyone else, it's a trifling and shoddy tirade.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment 68 Comments
10/03/08
Brett McCracken
Brett McCracken
Christianity Today

"Religulous" (rhymes with ridiculous) is a funny, debate-provoking movie that dares to question fundamental beliefs that have been foisted on societies in order to enable brutality and prejudice in the name of a higher power. It's a call for humanity to g

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment 24 Comments
08/24/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

As a piece of agitprop op-ed filmmaking, Religulous is often brilliant. It's definitely hilarious, sometimes to the point of leaving me wheezing and giggling.

Full Review Source: CHUD | comment 14 Comments
08/21/08
Devin Faraci
Devin Faraci
CHUD

Maher ridicules all religions except the 3rd largest, Hinduism, and 4th largest, Buddhism. Maher should praise Buddha for inventing a religion without a God. Maher ends preaching.

Full Review Source: FilmsInReview.com | comment 13 Comments
09/30/08
Victoria Alexander
Victoria Alexander
FilmsInReview.com

[Maher's] scattershot and ad hominem attacks against many different forms of religious hypocrisy don't add up to a coherent critique, and he's not qualified to provide one.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment 12 Comments
10/03/08
Andrew O'Hehir
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com

Bill Maher does something amazing in Religulous. He makes Michael Moore look incredibly likable in comparison.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment 12 Comments
10/03/08
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle

A facetious yet sincere documentary that makes the case for why all of the world's organized religions are not only, well, ridiculous, but also detrimental and downright dangerous.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment 10 Comments
10/03/08
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

Thought is absent in Religulous, as is imagination. The movie is Maher's monument to Maher, as ugly and hateful as anything he decries in the film.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment 10 Comments
10/03/08
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

...Religulous begins to seriously run out of steam somewhere past the halfway mark, as the repetitive nature of the movie's structure becomes increasingly tough to take.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment 9 Comments
09/16/08
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

You can't bamboozle a theme park mascot -- even one dressed up as Jesus -- and then ask to be taken seriously.

Full Review Source: Flipside Movie Emporium | comment 9 Comments
10/04/08
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium

Was Maher afraid he might muddy his clownish jape if he actually brought into the mix a learned theologian?

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment 8 Comments
10/06/08
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor

Maher may see demented dogma all around him, but what's the basis of his own moral compass? We're not religulous, just curious.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment 7 Comments
10/08/08
Kevin Lally
Kevin Lally
Film Journal International

In the end, for all its genuflections towards free inquiry and rational debate, Maher is as close-minded as any of the preachers he despises.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment 7 Comments
10/03/08
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

Maher makes it a point to focus on normal, reasonably sane religious people. He's not stacking the deck in his favor, because he doesn't need to.

Full Review Source: CinemaBlend.com | comment 5 Comments
09/26/08
Joshua Tyler
Joshua Tyler
CinemaBlend.com

One of the rules of satire is that you can't mock things you don't understand, and Religulous starts developing fault lines when it becomes clear that Maher's view of religious faith is based on a sophomoric reading of the Scriptures.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment 5 Comments
10/03/08
Neely Tucker
Neely Tucker
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's a nasty, condescending, small-minded film, self-amused and ultimately self-defeating. Its only accomplishment is to make atheists look bad -- and in this political climate they didn't need Maher's help with that.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment 5 Comments
10/02/08
Rafer Guzman
Rafer Guzman
Newsday

Being snarky and smug doesn't equate to providing insight, and there's more than one occasion when the filmmakers lose sight of this in their zeal to spread the Gospel According to Maher.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment 4 Comments
09/30/08
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
 
 
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