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Religulous

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Religulous (2008)

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Reviews Counted:32

Fresh:20

Rotten:12

Average Rating:6/10

Consensus: Religulous is funny and offensive in equal measure, and aims less to change hearts and minds than to inspire conversation.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for some language and sexual material.

Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Oct 1, 2008 Limited

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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Release:

Feb 17, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region [unknown]
  • NTSC
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Subtitles - English, Spanish

Additional Release Material:

  • Deleted Scenes

Audio Commentary:

  • 1. Bill Maher, Larry Charles
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Religulous

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Maher is essentially and professionally a comic, and the measure of this movie is not just the thoughts it provokes but the laughs it generates.

Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
11/10/08
Jonathan F. Richards
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I think this is an important movie, challenging, many beliefs that many of us seem unwilling to talk about. Mainly, though, you’ll laugh…a lot.

Full Review Source: At the Movies | comment Comment
11/10/08
Ben Mankiewicz
Ben Mankiewicz
At the Movies
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Religulous has an unholy fervor that should start many bonfires.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
10/18/08
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
New York Magazine
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About half of the movie works in its snide, hit-and-run way. The other half throws more and more darts at the same balloon, long after it pops.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment 4 Comments
10/18/08
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
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Maher sets out not after answers but cheap laughs that preach, so to speak, to the converted.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
10/18/08
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
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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
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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.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
10/03/08
Claudia Puig
Claudia Puig
USA Today
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Bill Maher does something amazing in Religulous. He makes Michael Moore look incredibly likable in comparison.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment 12 Comments
10/03/08
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle
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[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
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A provocation, thinly disguised as a documentary, that succeeds in being almost as funny as it is offensive.

Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | comment 1 Comment
10/03/08
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
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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.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment 7 Comments
10/03/08
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger
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Maher isn't unfair. Simply restating religious tenets to believers amounts to ridiculing them, but so be it.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
10/03/08
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post
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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.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
10/03/08
Joe Neumaier
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
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No two ways about it, Religulous is going to offend a lot of people who have never even see it. Chances are, it's going to offend a lot of people who do see it as well.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
10/03/08
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News
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Funny as it is, Religulous is too much an exercise in preaching to the happily nonconverted. You others be damned. Sound familiar?

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
10/03/08
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post
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Many may laugh, and many will surely be offended, but nothing here bridges the gap between those two reactions.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
10/03/08
Tom Maurstad
Tom Maurstad
Dallas Morning News
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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
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As an exchange of ideas, this is a hopeless project, since Maher's doubt is as immovable as his interviewees' certainty.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
10/03/08
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
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One of the rules of satire is that you can't mock things you don't understand, and Religulous starts developing fault lines when it becomes clear that Maher's view of religious faith is based on a sophomoric reading of the Scriptures.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment 5 Comments
10/03/08
Neely Tucker
Neely Tucker
Washington Post
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We need skeptics. They infuriate, but they also illuminate, and anybody whose faith can't take the knocks that Maher dishes out probably has deeper spiritual issues to deal with.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment 1 Comment
10/03/08
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star
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Latest News for Religulous

February 16, 2009: RT on DVD: High School Musical 3 or Midnight Meat Train?
It's a good week for mediocre films (Body of Lies, Changeling, Quarantine and Flash of Genius, which all walk a fine line between Fresh and Rotten) and an even better one if... More...

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October 02, 2008: Box Office Guru Preview: Chihuahua to Overtake Multiplexes
Hollywood kicks off the fourth quarter with a stampede of new releases that will test the elasticity of the marketplace. Ambulances are already on standby to rush the high... More...

September 23, 2008: Trailer Tuesday: Religulous Opens in new window
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