Al Franken: God Spoke
Balcony Releasing | Release Date: September 13, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Less a documentary than a love fest for Al Franken, this scattershot movie, shot over two years, follows the zigzag trail of political satirist Al Franken as he feuds with Bill O'Reilly, campaigns against George W. Bush, and helps establish Air America. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Captures comedian and pundit Al Franken evolving from satirist to activist. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
The film ends with Franken contemplating a run for U.S. Senate, but it's clear that his political campaign began long ago. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
A lot of preaching to the converted. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Humorist and liberal radio talk-show host Al Franken is a funny guy, and most of the people he attacks - Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Dick Cheney - are not. But the joke was on him when George Bush won re-election in 2004. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Neither a profile nor a critique, though, the film's only focus is its subject's mild self-regard. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
Listening to O'Reilly, Anne Coulter and others vilify Franken -- and vice versa -- is part of the dialogue that makes America great. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyCharles Taylor
Throughout God Spoke, Franken comes off as passionate and funny, with an impressive ability to muster facts and an absence of smugness. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Sketchy but often entertaining. Read full review
50
VarietyJoe Leydon
Despite these flashbacks, however, God Spoke never really delves into the reasons and/or motivations behind Franken's transformation from monologist and sketch-comedy performer to political pundit and liberal activist. Indeed, even during intimate moments, Franken rarely comes across as someone given to explaining himself. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
With the transformation of Al Franken from comedian to activist, Nick Doob and Chris Hegedus stumbled onto a good subject, but in the documentary Al Franken: God Spoke, they stumble around in it. Read full review
50
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Even his fans may find themselves frustrated, since the film observes Mr. Franken closely without generating much insight into him. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The film ends before Franken can actually take the step from commentator to participant, which adds to its overall unfinished and unfocused air. Read full review
50
PremiereEthan Alter
It's great that the comedian felt the call of a higher office, but it's a call that apparently only he can hear. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
For me, Franken is funniest at his least guarded and his most incorrect, and as he inches toward becoming a politician himself, we get less and less of that. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Most of this doc is content to wander through Franken's recent show-biz resume, to no particular end. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
I love Franken and wish there were more funny liberals in the chattering class, but his crushing sarcasm wouldn't exactly elevate the national debate. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A documentary in search of a story. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Fans of Franken's wittier print and broadcast work might smile. But I haven't seen this much smug, awkward laughter and bathos since, well, "Man of the Year." Read full review
40
Village VoiceRob Nelson
Unfocused but brisk. Read full review
30
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
This film by Nick Doob and Chris Hegedus forces us to make some decisions about him. For myself, I find him generally gross, in person and in manner. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Neither as adroitly funny as Franken's comic routines, nor as notable as his conversion to the fine art of politics, this is a 90-minute "What If?" with no discernible answer. Read full review
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