God Bless America
Magnet Releasing | Release Date: May 11, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesMay 10, 2012
As with the earlier movie, this one turns in on its own morality like a Möbius strip, endorsing kindness by practicing slaughter, and pulls us along for the ride. Detractors will call its reasoning ridiculous, and they'll be right - though I doubt that will bother Goldthwait, who makes a living being ridiculous. Read full review
85
NPRElla TaylorMay 11, 2012
God Bless America ends with a couple of tale-twisting bullet orgies designed to take your preconceptions, as well as your nerve-endings, by surprise. Read full review
80
EmpirePhilip WildingJul 2, 2012
Part road trip, part revenge movie, this is a tentative tale of a man who's not going to take it anymore, sharp on the fallibility of human foibles and sometimes stingingly funny, too. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasMay 9, 2012
The key point about God Bless America is that it's extreme but not exaggerated, a dark comedy that indulges - and questions - a violent, misanthropic fantasy about laying waste to the cultural landscape while staying grounded in a recognizable reality. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMay 7, 2012
Writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait has an ax to grind and, once he's done grinding it, he uses it to split some skulls. God Bless America is many things - audacious, bitingly satirical, unafraid of venturing into uncomfortable territory - but it is never subtle. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyMay 12, 2012
This funny, sick twist of social satire is certainly locked and loaded, even if its aim is sometimes off. Read full review
70
Boxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoMay 12, 2012
You'll laugh and be offended, but if you watch it and don't want to be part of the solution, you'll know which side of the line you're on. Activism takes some unique forms. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMay 10, 2012
It's a little too obvious -- interesting, sometimes kind of fun but, ultimately, not as satisfying as it might have been. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn LevyMay 17, 2012
Offers a few laughs and a moment or two of drama, but it's finally more of a conceit -- and a familiar one -- than a film. Read full review
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMay 18, 2012
The good news: This is Goldthwait the writer-director, not Goldthwait the actor -- so there's no schticky voice to endure. But his exceedingly black comedy does speak loudly -- and it turns out he's actually got something worthwhile to say. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMay 31, 2012
Although several great speeches and hilarious one-liners goose the film, God Bless America nevertheless peaks too early and becomes rather one-note. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTom RussoMay 17, 2012
Some of this vigilante-fantasy misbehavior is wickedly funny. Read full review
50
New York PostSara StewartMay 11, 2012
There are so many monologues about obnoxious behavior that they begin to lose their luster - something I'd never have thought possible. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliMay 10, 2012
At no point during the movie does it strike him that mass extermination might be classified as "rude." No, Frank has the courage of his convictions, which include the belief that most of America has already flushed itself down the toilet. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMay 10, 2012
Mr. Goldthwait's screenplay is essentially a comedy act fleshed out with a story he doesn't try to make convincing. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMay 9, 2012
Here is a film that begins with merciless comic savagery and descends into merely merciless savagery. But wow, what an opening. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanMay 9, 2012
Bobcat Goldthwait's new movie is a burlesque that turns into a harangue that turns into a rampage. Read full review
50
Village VoiceNick PinkertonMay 8, 2012
The interplay between Murray and Barr is closely and carefully handled, but when the monotonous squib-popping subsides, the movie is often static and talky, lapsing into criticism-hedging qualifications and anti-everything speechifying. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMay 5, 2012
A niche theatrical run might draw fans of Goldthwait's previous work, this effort isn't likely to get as much help from critics as those sometimes did. Read full review
50
VarietyDennis HarveyMay 5, 2012
While it starts out well, Bobcat Goldthwait's black comedy struggles to maintain focus as it turns into a road trip of diminishing rewards in satirical and narrative terms. Read full review
45
MovielineAlison WillmoreMay 10, 2012
God Bless America only wants to see the worst in people - in fact actively seeks it out in order to be disgusted, and that feels almost as bad as the behavior the film is critiquing. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanMay 10, 2012
As both a comedian and filmmaker, Bobcat Goldthwait ("Shakes the Clown") has carved out a valuable spot as an idiosyncratic instigator. But even fans may be disappointed at how swiftly he undermines its own message here. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfMay 8, 2012
It's Goldthwait's first misstep, a serious one. He's simply not the filmmaker to mount a fierce takedown of Kardashian culture, thorough though his script's rage is. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineNick SchagerMay 7, 2012
By wholeheartedly taking its main character's side instead of complicating or censuring his homicidal vigilante crusade, it proves inanely one-note and preachy. Read full review
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