Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
Warner Independent Pictures (WIP) | Release Date: January 20, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
19
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Like "The Aristocrats," Looking succeeds smashingly both as a comedy and as a savvy deconstruction of comedy. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I liked the movie. I smiled a lot. It maintained its tone in the face of bountiful temptations to get easy laughs. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
It would have better if Brooks had invested more time trying to discover what makes AMERICANS laugh. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Fans of Brooks and his wry, dry neuroticism will not be disappointed as he whines and whimpers around New Delhi. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Albert Brooks may have come up with the funniest movie premise of the year in Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
It's a sly, low-key comedy in which he casts himself as a neurotic, self-absorbed curmudgeon. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A funny and appropriately skewed comedy. Read full review
70
VarietyDeborah Young
Though it risks political incorrectness every step of the way, film is more a pleasant laugher than a sharp-edged satire. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Brooks' film is especially welcome now because it frankly admits that most Americans are ignorant about Muslims and have a lot to learn, in contrast with the few other Hollywood movies dealing with Muslims -- "Syriana," "Munich" -- which seem to suggest that non-Muslim viewers can emerge knowing the score. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The movie doesn't so much end as reach a stopping point and limp hurriedly off-screen, like a bad stand-up chased out by boo birds. But God, is it funny. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's only half of a good comedy. After a delicious opening and setup, the movie really doesn't go anywhere very interesting, and doesn't come close to any epiphanies about the subject at hand, even in subtext. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter Travers
This Brooks is a comedian who forgets the golden rule of "know your audience." He thinks he'll get his laughs if he keeps doing the same act with better lighting. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Brooks is always a dry vintage, so the lack of outright laughs is to be expected. But Looking for Comedy is more depressing than funny. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
Not Brooks' funniest film, but it possesses his trademark wry humor and is slyly observant. Read full review
60
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Front-loaded with inspired gags, and the first half-hour is both sneakily and explosively funny, raising expectations that are never quite met. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
A reasonably amusing effort that manages to poke fun at Brooks' neuroses and governmental blundering with equal skill. Read full review
60
SlateStephen Metcalf
For the first half of Looking for Comedy, Brooks' hangdog demeanor performs reliably, and there are plenty of solid laughs. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Eraser-dull. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)DavidEdelstein
Brooks is looking for comedy in all the wrong places. He's no longer his own White Whale. He's something slower, in a shell--his own turtle. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Almost despite itself, this is a deeply pessimistic movie. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
You don't have to be a Muslim, or a humorless person of any persuasion, to find Brooks' performance excruciating. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The results are distressingly flat, frequently patronizing and, for a topical comedy, strangely out of it. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Strange that a movie about comedy is so lacking in this quality. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Doesn't conclude so much as just stop, because Brooks, having come up with a great hook for a movie, didn't bother to come up with a satisfying story to go along with it. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The movie has a perversely unifying effect: Muslims, Christians and Jews may not be able to agree on exactly who the heck Jesus is, but they're fully capable of bonding in boredom. Read full review
50
PremiereJessica Letkemann
At heart, a light, watchable film. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The movie isn't racist; it's just lame. If Brooks truly cared about Muslims or how their funny bones worked, Looking for Comedy might have had some zing, but all his character is interested in is the 500-page report he has to deliver - a homework assignment from hell. Read full review
42
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Looking for comedy in Albert Brooks' Looking for Comedy In the Muslim World is a fool's errand. There's hardly any there. Read full review
40
Film ThreatPhil Hall
Unfortunately, Brooks errs badly by having his film centered in India. Yes, India - which, as most people know, is not a predominantly Muslim country. Rather than look for comedy in the Muslim world, Brooks uses this film to make fun of contemporary Indian society. Read full review
40
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
A particularly painful event for those of us weaned on Brooks' earliest films, Saturday Night Live shorts and vintage clips of his deadpan standup appearances. It contains precisely two funny moments. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
An essentially toothless affair, poking fun at American imperialism and its attendant cluelessness while never illuminating much beyond the obvious. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
The question for skittish distributors is not whether Looking for Comedy will play in Peshawar, but how long the movie will take to put Peoria to sleep. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
There's nothing more painful than watching comics tank, and Looking for Comedy in a Muslim World is a 95-minute wince. Read full review
38
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
However deep the divide currently separating the Middle East from the West appears to be, there's at least one thing we can all agree on: Albert Brooks isn't all that funny anymore. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
This is by far the most embarrassing of his seven movies. Read full review
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