Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 91
Fresh: 65 | Rotten: 26
By turns fluffy and biting, this show biz comedy is given girth by comic heavyweight John Malkovich and made all the more charming by Emily Blunt.
Average Rating: 6.4/10
Critic Reviews: 26
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 7
By turns fluffy and biting, this show biz comedy is given girth by comic heavyweight John Malkovich and made all the more charming by Emily Blunt.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 31,103
A young man on his way up hitches his wagon to a middle-aged star on his way down in a comedy from writer and director Sean McGinly. Troy Gable (Colin Hanks) is a guy in his early twenties who has dropped out of law school and is pondering his next move. Troy has an interest in working in the entertainment business, and when he learns that a "celebrity performer" is looking for a personal assistant, Troy thinks he's found the ideal entry-level position. Troy soon discovers he's landed a job as a
Mar 20, 2009 Wide
Jul 21, 2009
$0.6M
Magnolia
All Critics (92) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (66) | Rotten (26) | DVD (1)
This is not a rare movie, but it does have a warm red center. It's likable, and its appeal grows as it recovers from a shaky start and finds its footing.
A pleasant enough comedy in the My Favorite Year mold.
A modest snapshot of a performer.
The film feels painfully thin.
Buck Howard is Malkovich's show. When's he's off the screen, the film sputters, but while he's on-camera, it's magical.
The movie, which was written and directed by Sean McGinly, is consistently good as long as it centers on Buck and his seriocomic travails.
Malkovich's titular mentalist is the primary focus of attention%u2014and sadly the source of many of the film's unique problems. In a career of strange performances, Malkovich turns in a true curiosity here%u2014and maybe it's because he is not, for once,
The problem isn't so much in the film's clumsy, hand-holding narration, or in its forced quirkiness. Rather it's that its most interesting character -- the one they named the thing after -- isn't the main character.
John Malkovich deserves the most credit for the film's success, as he turns in a compelling performance as a pathetic has-been who has no idea he's washed up.
A slight yet satisfying show-biz tale.
By no means a great film, but it makes up in modest pleasantness what it lacks in weightiness.
Sleight of hand is among a magician's greatest assets, but even the most gullible rubes will be able to follow most of writer-director Sean McGinly's telegraphed moves in this agreeable but lightweight film...
...a charming, pleasantly diverting movie that is hard to dislike.
Inspired by the Amazing Kreskin, it's a poignant, gently satiric portrait of the utter desperation of a fading celebrity.
This moderately entertaining film would have been a lot more entertaining had the charismatic, exceptionally talented Emily Blunt been given a much larger role.
While arguably sweet and charming, The Great Buck Howard is memorable only because of his sleight of hand.
Malkovich expertly starts the relationship between his character and the audience on several wrong feet before winning us over.
A good comedy with jokes and nostalgia for the whole family and tasteful subject matter. But it would have been as good or better without the Hanks father-son team.
Watching The Great Buck Howard is like listening to 'Chopsticks' played really well. Impressive, maybe, but who cares?
Buck Howard: I love this town! "Greatness is a state of mind"I love this movie. Although, there were a few things wrong with it, such as Colin Hanks in the lead role(he's not his dad), the movie succeeds as a short charming comedy. The story or movie for that matter is nothing spectacular. It's actually quite average.
July 28, 2011
Super Reviewer
"But I had learned from Buck that when you do the thing you love, somehow, magically, you find the money."The Great Buck Howard is a slightly above average movie with an excellent cast. John Malkovich, Colin Hanks, Emily Blunt, Tom Hanks, Steve Zahn, and others all contribute to this "slightly based on a true story"
June 8, 2010Super Reviewer
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