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.
Religulous (2008)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for Religulous
Borat/Bruno meets Michael Moore in this funny and thought provoking attack on religion.
So if you are not already on-side with [Maher's] particular leanings, the pickings in Religulous are very slim indeed.
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.
Maher understands this fine line, but in his comedic zeal, he sometimes forgets and steps wrong.
It's an unstructured, scatter-gun attack, with Maher's cynical wit piercing the pretensions of one true believer after another, and director Larry Charles punctuating the encounters with cuts to Maher's vintage stand-up routines.
Though fashioned as popular entertainment with laughs, light moments, and mostly humorous segments, Religulous is as serious as a disapproving Jehovah about its mission to upend our rote allegiance to blind religious faith.
Maher doesn't know the answers. That's his religion, the unknowing. And he attempts to investigate why others believe what they do with an open mind, but it's Maher. He mugs.
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.
If you give [Maher] a chance, you'll find an intelligent, witty and well-researched cynic eager to give voice to an underserved minority.
there can be few greater threats to religious zealotry than the power of laughter or the quest for knowledge - which is what makes comedian Bill Maher such an effective champion for the cause of scepticism in an age of rising fundamentalism.
Shooting fish in a barrel is the order of the day in comedian Bill Maher's faintly tiresome attack on religion.
It is [funny], although much of the humor is extraordinarily cheap and obvious.
Instead of confronting real problems radiating from the world's major religions Mr. Maher and Mr. Charles opt for Borat redux, making fun of silly little yokels.
In this docu-comedy Maher and Borat director Larry Charles team up for a guerrilla raid on religion that employs many of the same bait-and-switch tactics from that Sacha Baron Cohen hit.
The truth is Religulous is a well-structured product of doubt, an argument of uncertainty that preaches to the choir but also manages to recruit new skeptics.
Wants to be a wakeup call in a room where the people are willing to sleep just a little too deeply.
Maher's holy trinity comes in the form of the words 'I don't know' and it's the lesson he wants to shout from the pulpit, even if there's some arrogance in believing that he knows everyone else is wrong.
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.
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January 03, 2009:
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September 23, 2008:
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