A Maher riff that's amusing enough, but hardly profound--one that's unlikely to alter your views on religion, whatever choir you're in.
Religulous (2008)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for Religulous
You can't bamboozle a theme park mascot -- even one dressed up as Jesus -- and then ask to be taken seriously.
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.
They say that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Maher comes on like honey, but the provocateur is an unrepentant vinegar man.
The tone swiftly becomes more serious in the film's last reel, coming to a brilliant (or infuriating, depending on your beliefs) head with a Maher monologue that's stunningly biting and incisive.
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.
...an interesting and funny film by a man full of doubt. Had he been a bit more open-minded, he might see belief and doubt are partners, not opposites.
Religulous doesn't really go anywhere. It's ultimately a celebration of the old-time religion we call entertainment.
Religulous is not for the devout. But those with a taste for irreverent humor and clear-eyed analysis will find it funny, enlightening and disturbing.
He [Maher]loves the sound of his own voice and the intellect and seeming intelligence behind his own theories. Nowhere in this movie does he really attempt to get answers.
I enjoyed Religulous, but I think it would be better if Maher had the confidence to spend more time talking to articulate believers.
It's sharp and outrageously funny enough to keep it from coming off like a self-righteous screed and to keep Maher from looking like the Michael Moore of religion -- for the most part.
Bill Maher does something amazing in Religulous. He makes Michael Moore look incredibly likable in comparison.
[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.
A provocation, thinly disguised as a documentary, that succeeds in being almost as funny as it is offensive.
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.
Maher isn't unfair. Simply restating religious tenets to believers amounts to ridiculing them, but so be it.
What [Maher] does do finally in this funny, refreshing movie is assert how unrestrained religiosity could guarantee the 'end days' many of his subjects admit to looking forward to.
If you can accept the comedian and talk show host's ill-mannered shtick and can stand a robust lecture from someone who speaks critically of what others hold sacred, Religulous will reinforce what you already think.
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January 03, 2009:
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October 02, 2008:
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September 23, 2008:
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