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Bill Maher's idea of funny? A hundred and one minutes of bashing religion by a sad confused comedian who thinks that faith is "a neurological disorder." Orndorf's reaction? He admonished Maher for not going far enough:
"Religulous is the type of film to be sent off into the world to crack open a few eyes and change some lives. In reality, only those patient with Maher and already free of devotion will be receptive to the message. It's a missed opportunity."
No complains about "divisiveness" here, although the "crack open a few eyes" remark aptly describes the liberal idea of unity and cultural dialogue.
Curiosity prompted me to compare quotes by other critics who reviewed both American Carol and Religulous; I placed them next to each other in two columns. The results are astonishing:
An American Carol - 13%: rotten
Religulous - 68%: fresh
James Rocchi, Common Sense:
Right-wing political comedy just isn't funny.
James Rocchi, Common Sense:
It's a funny film about some depressing things, it's a lighthearted tour through terrorism, injustice and intolerance.
Austin Kennedy, Sin Magazine:
This is an uneven, uninspired, tired spoof that has about 10 funny jokes throughout.
Austin Kennedy, Sin Magazine:
This is a brutally blunt and often side-splittingly funny movie.
Dustin Putman, TheMovieBoy.com:
While it is the liberals of America who receive the brunt of abuse, it is the conservatives, portrayed as hypocritical, narrow-minded hicks and heathens, that unintentionally look like fools.
Dustin Putman, TheMovieBoy.com
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.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel:
It's a polemic, a screed, a combination comic rant and sentimental flag-waver that doesn't work as either.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel:
Fearless as a fatwa and subtle as a Second Coming, Religulous is a revelation.
Consensus: An American Carol suffers not so much from its perceived political bias, but from the fact that it simply is not very funny.
Consensus: Religulous is funny and offensive in equal measure, and aims less to change hearts and minds than to inspire conversation.
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But enough about Bill Maher's all-American funniness. Considering that one of American Carol's satirical targets is Michael Moore I also checked what reviews the Carol-bashing critics may have written about Moore's "mainstream" films:
An American Carol - 13%: rotten
Sicko - 93%: fresh
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly (Top Critic):
Only you can decide whether you're in the mood to wade through the smear of stink jokes and political ravings.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly (Top Critic):
If other countries can provide their people with universal health care, why can't we? If we can't, who are we?
Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat:
Forget politics: An American Carol sucks simply because it's ridiculously, painfully unfunny.
Mike McGranaghan, Aisle Seat:
The best thing I can say about Sicko is that it demands that you think and feel. You cannot view it passively.
An American Carol - 13%: rotten
Fahrenheit 9/11 - 83%: fresh
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze:
A liberal witch hunt in court jester clothing, and in-your-face politics presumably to coincide with the election, while certain to have Charles Dickens roll over in his grave. An American Carol: Huh?! Cinema at its foulest.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze:
If all the world is truly a stage, then leftie bad boy Michael Moore is chief scavenger of the behind-the-scenes skeletons in the storage closet.
Other reviews didn't have a readily available pair, but it's worth reading them if only to understand the level of spiritual and intellectual unanimity a right-wing comedy can provoke among the otherwise disjointed critics:
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An American Carol is about as not-funny as a comedy can get.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer - Top Critic
As entertainment, An American Carol ranks below YouTube clips of Sarah Palin.
Amy Nicholson, Boxoffice Magazine
What makes An American Carol overtly depressing rather than merely lame is its allegiance to a diseased political discourse built on crude dichotomies: Either you're a bellicose, God-fearing patriot or a troop-hating, traitorous hippie.
Sam Adams, Onion AV Club
This movie's level of political discourse makes Couric/Palin look like Frost/Nixon.
Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly
Forget about politics for a moment...Carol is first and foremost a terrible piece of filmmaking, marred by bad performances, cringe-inducing dialogue and amateurish direction.
Ethan Alter, Film Journal International
Poorly made indie production has a script that feels like a list of ripostes collected over the last several years to liberal criticisms of the U.S.: The whole enterprise feels far more agenda- than entertainment-driven.
Todd McCarthy, Variety - Top Critic
I can't imagine anyone -- Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, red-state or blue-state, earthling or E.T. -- finding An American Carol anything other than 'not funny.' And idiotic. And demeaning. And aggressively, persistently crummy.
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald
Cheap shots and mean spirits abound, as do celebrity cameos. But it's the laziness of the writing that most offends.
Nathan Lee, New York Times - Top Critic
Is there any filmmaker alive, whether Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal, capable of producing a truly incisive, intelligent satire about our politically polarized times?
Rafer Guzman, Newsday - Top Critic
Given that this supremely silly satire directed by The Naked Gun's David Zucker plays more like something slapped together to beat an expiration date, it's hard to get too worked up about it.
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times - Top Critic
Ultimately, the problem with An American Carol is the problem with far too much political discourse in this country, left or right: It highlights the worst excesses of the opposition for the sole purpose of discrediting the vast middle.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe - Top Critic
Although it's refreshing to encounter a parody that doesn't use tired movie genres for inspiration, An American Carol squanders its comedic potential with a near-total absence of laughs.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter - Top Critic
I'm giving it a just-barely-recommended grade not because it's terribly funny (which it isn't), but because it's fascinating as a cultural artifact.
Eric D. Snider, EricDSnider.com
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In case you were wondering what "media bias" consists of, movie critics have just articulated it for you in clear terms. Not a single critic made the intellectual effort to step outside the liberal frame of reference and examine the other side's premise in order to get the joke. Isn't that what open-mindedness means? It's not as difficult as it seems -- conservatives have been doing it for years, ever since liberals took control of the movie and TV industries.
Don't get me wrong; all critics have the right to their opinions and it's great that American Constitution guarantees them the freedom to parade a maniacal knee-jerk aversion to traditional American view of this country's place in history and the world. It's diversity, right?
Having an opinion is not a problem. The trouble is that all these critics have one and the same opinion. Without a hint of diversity.
When suddenly, as if by command, formerly diverse critics cease being all over the board and are drawn, like paper clips to a magnet, into a far left corner where they begin to march in ordered formations -- that's a huge red flag over Kodak Theater.
It exposes more than just differently shaped funny bones. This is a sign of a total takeover of the national media by leftwing ideologues whose hiring and editorial policies have terminated intellectual diversity and populated offices with goose-stepping drones -- achieving a monolithic ideological purity that rivals only that in the corridors of the glorious party organ Pravda.
Now that we're clear on our domestic differences, let's turn to our foreign audiences.
To an outsider, the lasting resentful dispute between the two conflicting American voices coming out of a single American head may seem like schizophrenia, which should confuse even a well-meaning observer. And the foreigners are confused. Some abandon all efforts to understand this country; others use the confusion to stir anti-American sentiments to strengthen their own political power; yet others want to end all uncertainty by either destroying America or converting it to Islam, which is practically the same thing.
Whether we like it or not, this is the sad political reality we have to live with. Foreigners need to realize what the two voices are and what ideas they really represent before they even begin to understand anything about America's actions on the world arena and at home, including the rubbish coming out of Hollywood. Americans, too, need to realize how confused the outsiders are before they begin to understand anything about the origins of America's image abroad and the foreign reactions to their country.
Need a clue where to begin the un-confusion? Watching An American Carol might be a good start.
