The Aristocrats (2005)
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 147
Fresh: 117 | Rotten: 30
Can a joke stand up to repeated tellings? Hilarious and revealing of the way comedy works, The Aristocrats demonstrates that it's possible.
Average Rating: 7.2/10
Critic Reviews: 42
Fresh: 35 | Rotten: 7
Can a joke stand up to repeated tellings? Hilarious and revealing of the way comedy works, The Aristocrats demonstrates that it's possible.
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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 86,389
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Movie Info
"A family walks into a talent agent's office..." So begins "The Aristocrats," a joke kept mostly secret by stand-up comedians for decades. An intentionally "bad" joke, the laughs in The Aristocrats aren't in the punch-line (one of the only elements that's the same every time), but in the set-up, made unique by each comedian who tells it in an attempt to fashion the world's dirtiest joke. The cat was finally let out of the bag by Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza, the seasoned funnymen who gathered
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All Critics (151) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (122) | Rotten (30) | DVD (28)
The first feel-good movie made out of fecal matter.
This all-star open-mike night loses its luster before its own loud laughter dies down.
... The Aristocrats proves that sometimes you don't have to be a great filmmaker to make a great documentary.
What the film really reveals is the role of the comedian in society and the craftsmanship of joke-writing and joke delivery.
Let me reiterate. This movie is really, really dirty.
See it if you aren't too jaded to appreciate a few laughs in these mostly mirthless times.
A joyful film, full of men and women alight with the pleasure that comes from negating every compliment civilization has ever paid itself.
A plethora of comedians discuss and tell their own inspired rendition of "the dirtiest joke in the world" in a contagiously funny documentary that symptomatically gives context to the lasting influence of vaudeville humor.
Each take on the gag reveals a different facet of comic technique.
Its very about-itself unimportance is what makes it a liberating experience for its own sake.
A tedious dud that sparks once or twice with big laughs
...the brilliant Sarah Silverman transcends the mean-spirited nature of the joke...
In its simplest form, the joke isn't funny; it's all in the telling, and Provenza proves once again that some people can tell a joke, and some people can't.
I honestly think this is something that could have been covered in about 30 minutes, not 90.
With a showman's respect for the power of the build-up, Provenza touts his product thoroughly before unveiling it.
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