Co-directors Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland, who appear as earnest documentary filmmakers of the same name, pull it off by never winking at the audience or signaling in any fashion that this isn't a true story.
Comment
03/25/05
Rate this Movie 
Mail Order Wife (2005)
63
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted:32
Fresh:20
Rotten:12
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: The setup for Mail Order Wife is clever, but the movie is only moderately funny, and it stumbles badly in the third act.
Theatrical Release:Mar 11, 2005 Limited
Synopsis: Andrew Gurland is a New York City filmmaker interested in making a documentary about an average guy and his marriage to a mail order bride. Andrew finds the perfect subject for his film and decides... [More]
Starring: Eugenia Yuan, Adrian Martinez, Andrew Gurland, Deborah Teng
Director: Andrew Gurland
Get This Movie
Reviews for Mail Order Wife
Top CriticFinally breaks down under the weight of its twists and turns, but mostly maintains a creepy fascination with its scuzzy characters.
03/18/05
Captures the conventions and pretensions of fly-on-the-wall docus with wicked accuracy.
03/18/05
Mail Order Wife is astonishingly cruel, and I say that in a good way.
03/13/05
Return to sender.
03/11/05
As for Gurland, well, if this fictional version of himself is at all like the real thing, I'm worried about the guy. But I hope he keeps making movies as gutsy, discomforting and slyly uproarious.
03/11/05
A remarkably smart and weird film, even if it's sad and sometimes difficult to watch, with jokes designed to make you cringe.
03/11/05
The result, a dissection of the complicated dynamics of sexual and economic exploitation, is pitiless and occasionally inspired.
03/11/05
It looks like a documentary, but filmmakers Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland are hunting something fierce and darkly funny.
03/10/05
Top CriticThird-act plot machinations feel like a frantic bid to achieve a feature-length running time, and in the end all this self-aware unseemliness proves as dispiriting as watching a marathon of reality TV.
03/10/05
Less a film, more a series of ragtag gags.
03/09/05
Top Critica simple-minded circle jerk about exploitation, peopled by characters without the least bit of originality, vitality or appeal
03/08/05
[A] hilarious black comedy... all about puncturing balloons of self-importance...
03/07/05
Analogous to an overly long episode of Punk’d in which the moviegoing audience is the punkee.
02/17/05
Coaxes its fair share of laughs from an audience sure to be squirming in their seats in discomfort, while the film's outrageous ending almost makes the slow ramp-up worthwhile.
03/26/04
A caustic comedic commentary on how men handle love, as well as how they're led around by the head of their genitalia, Mail Order Bride should not be missed.
03/25/04
RT On Current TV
What’s Hot On RT
Fresh Links
Featured
Wes Anderson on Fox 
The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox
The New Cult Canon
AV Club looks at a beloved cult classic, Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness.
New Moon Portraits
TIME offers us a closer look at the characters from the latest Twilight film.
Unsexiest Men Alive
Moviefone lists their choices for the least attractive men in Hollywood.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!
IGN RSS Feeds