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Religulous

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Religulous (2008)

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Reviews Counted:141

Fresh:98

Rotten:43

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.

Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins

Genre: Comedies

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 rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/21/08
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Gerald Peary
Gerald Peary
Boston Phoenix

[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

It's pretty easy to take the piss out of religious kitsch, as Maher does. It would have been more instructive (if less chucklesome) if he'd risked an argument with an accredited theologian.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment 2 Comments
04/03/09
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

This movie doesn’t seriously explore how religion affects politics; it’s just a snide attack on religious belief.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment 2 Comments
10/01/08
Armond White
Armond White
New York Press

The movie as a whole feels counterproductive; it doesn’t preach at all to the literal choir.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
10/01/08
Ben Kenigsberg
Ben Kenigsberg
Time Out New York

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 is the type of film to be sent off into the world to crack open a few eyes and change some lives. In reality, only those patient with Maher and already free of devotion will be receptive to the message. It's a missed opportunity.

Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | comment Comment
10/02/08
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
BrianOrndorf.com

For most of the film, Maher uses the devout as straight men to set up his jokes. Though initially sidesplitting, over the course of Religulous, Maher has diminishing comic returns.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
10/03/08
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer

Religulous reaffirms Maher's wit, but it also sheds light on his penchant for moral equivalence.

Full Review Source: Washington Times | comment Comment
10/03/08
Christian Toto
Christian Toto
Washington Times

Maher has gone for easy targets. He comes up with the odd funny gag, but you get the feeling that he is as dogmatic about his doubt as the believers are about their faith.

Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | comment 2 Comments
04/09/09
Cosmo Landesman
Cosmo Landesman
Sunday Times (UK)

It's not an exploration, it's a smart-arse going into situations just to confirm his own prejudices.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment 3 Comments
04/03/09
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

...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

That’s the trouble with Religulous —it is funny but never very acute.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
04/03/09
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

As intellectually dishonest toward religion as Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed was in the other direction.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment 2 Comments
10/01/08
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.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 doesn't really go anywhere. It's ultimately a celebration of the old-time religion we call entertainment.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment 1 Comment
10/03/08
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
Village Voice

Maher’s first film project, Religulous, is a major disappointment because here, unlike on Real Time, he aims for laughs instead of insight -- and aims low.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment 1 Comment
10/03/08
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

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

The film is basically 100-plus minutes of Maher making fun of others for their beliefs. However, he does nothing to prove his own points and contentions.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment 3 Comments
10/02/08
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
 
 
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