POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: April 22, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
USA TodayClaudia PuigApr 21, 2011
Spurlock comes off like a new and improved Everyman, familiar but smarter and funnier than the average Joe. Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 21, 2011
Spurlock says he's not selling out, he's buying in. I'm buying into Spurlock. As ever, he makes you laugh till it hurts. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 21, 2011
Morgan Spurlock has come up with a terrific idea-a movie about product placements that depends completely on product placements for its financing. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen HoldenApr 21, 2011
Even more amusing than "Super Size Me," the documentary that put Mr. Spurlock on the moviemaking map in 2004. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 21, 2011
There are lots of laughs - a commercial Spurlock makes for Mane 'n Tail shampoo is hilarious. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazineSteve RamosApr 21, 2011
Spurlock is at his trouble making best throughout the film, especially when he persuades longtime consumer advocate and former presidential candidate Ralph Nader by offering him a free pair of Merrell shoes. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttApr 19, 2011
So don't tell Spurlock he can't have his cake and eat it too. In Greatest Movie, he gleefully accepts his sponsorships on camera just to show you how wrong this all is. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMay 25, 2011
Spurlock's meetings with skeptical corporate types are punctuated by comments from filmmakers about how product placement - or in Quentin Tarantino's case, being turned down by Denny's - influences creativity. Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMay 20, 2011
Spurlock banks on his charm and likability -- and it's that charm and likability that make The Greatest Movie Ever Sold so much fun to watch. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsMay 20, 2011
Although there are gentle detour discussions about advertising in classrooms and school buses, Spurlock's ironic approach can't convince us that ads are toxic. Indeed, when he visits sprawling Sao Paolo, Brazil, where all outdoor advertising has been banned, it seems as sterile as Stalingrad. Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreMay 4, 2011
Greatest Movie isn't Spurlock's best. It plays like an overlong, overly cutesy TV news report (woman and man on street interviews included) on product placement. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn LevyApr 29, 2011
Even though Spurlock, a totally likeable Everyman, is in the middle of it at all times, "PWPTGMES" never feels like the work of, oh, Michael Moore. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 21, 2011
Its unique take on a common subject lends freshness to the familiar and provides a worthy motivation for seeing this. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoApr 21, 2011
His affable, regular-guy shtick works well here, and he scatters the movie with such gleeful ads for his sponsors' products that, if his documentary work ever dries up, his next career choice is obvious. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanApr 21, 2011
Like the best ad man, he makes his point by making us laugh. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaApr 21, 2011
Is Spurlock selling out by pulling off this stunt? Is he biting the hand that feeds him? Is he working both sides against the middle? And does he think JetBlue is the best airline in the world? You bet. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonApr 21, 2011
The results are scattershot but entertaining, and occasionally eye-opening. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyApr 21, 2011
Spurlock creates a good time along with some surprisingly salient observations as he tries to keep his balance on this very slippery slope. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderMichael WilmingtonApr 21, 2011
Funny, informative, and at times outrageously cheeky. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMark HolcombApr 19, 2011
As agreeable as it is insidious, Morgan Spurlock's latest exposé of corporate control via immersive humiliation is his best, most formally inventive project yet. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinApr 19, 2011
It's surprising that The Greatest Movie Ever Sold plays so entertainingly, given that Spurlock's quest is essentially beside the point. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangApr 19, 2011
A consistently amusing and not entirely vacuous stunt. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenApr 27, 2011
Worth imbibing, if for no reason other than the bellyache it generates. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumApr 22, 2011
Always the smooth showman, Spurlock avoids answering his own question: Is he selling out or buying in? Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Guy DixonMay 6, 2011
The problem is that the film, despite an attempt to examine the intellectual pollution of pervasive marketing, can't help coming off as one big smirk. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMay 5, 2011
The movie is at its best when Spurlock dives deep into his subject, interviewing directors such as J.J. Abrams and Quentin Tarantino. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertApr 21, 2011
The movie is quick and cheerful, and Spurlock is engaging. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsApr 21, 2011
It's too bad Spurlock settles for so little here, beyond the surface gag. Read full review
55
MovielineStephanie ZacharekApr 21, 2011
The subject of Spurlock's movie is Spurlock, and while he may be reasonably affable, and sometimes extremely goofy, it's a stretch to call him controversial. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerApr 23, 2011
Any highfalutin interpretations of his new film only serve to camouflage what is, in essence, a scam about a scam. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeEthan GilsdorfApr 21, 2011
Much like reality TV, nothing much of consequence happens. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierApr 22, 2011
Only the extremely naive will be shocked, shocked by director Morgan Spurlock's dissection of product placement in movies. Read full review
40
Time OutEric HynesApr 19, 2011
Rather than an argument or exposé, the movie is a condescendingly narrated demonstration of how money makes the movie world go round. (Stop the presses.) Read full review
25
New York PostLou LumenickApr 22, 2011
If I weren't already being paid to watch this movie, I'd feel entitled to compensation for having to sit through this many product plugs. Read full review
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