The Aristocrats
Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment | Release Date: July 29, 2005
6.0
USER SCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 64 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
33
Mixed:
16
Negative:
15
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User Reviews

User scoreBy dateMost helpful
5
BearC.Feb 20, 2006
Wanted to like it more, but I agree with those who said it seemed slipshod in its construction. Humor requires economy.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
5
EdK.Aug 26, 2005
When was the last time you laughed at a documentary? This movie is little different. The movie has the look and feel of a documentary, but it just so happens that the subject matter is (literally) a joke. I was hoping for a raucous When was the last time you laughed at a documentary? This movie is little different. The movie has the look and feel of a documentary, but it just so happens that the subject matter is (literally) a joke. I was hoping for a raucous roller-coaster ride of comedy riffs from our nation's greatest comedians. Instead, what I got was extreme over-analyzing of a bawdy joke. This movie thus ruins a joke the way an art critic ruins a painting--by trying to dissect it every which-a-way to get into every nook and cranny of the creator's mind. This movie could have been funny. It certainly has the star power and subject matter. But it fails (let me put it this way: in the theater I was in, there was maybe 10-15 minutes of audible laughter during the entire show).… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
6
MarkB.Sep 7, 2005
"Comedy is not pretty," said Steve Martin famously, and even though Martin himself doesn't appear in this 89-minute encyclopedic analysis of all you'd ever want to know plus much that you don't about the world's dirtiest "Comedy is not pretty," said Steve Martin famously, and even though Martin himself doesn't appear in this 89-minute encyclopedic analysis of all you'd ever want to know plus much that you don't about the world's dirtiest joke, The Aristocrats certainly proves his point. Suffice it to say that, if you were one of those folks that were offended or disturbed by Me and You and Everyone We Know's delicately handled subplot involving the 6-year-old and the cybersex website, then you have no business being within a 6-block radius of any multiplex showing this! The joke itself, involving a family introducing a unique new act to a talent agent, isn't much, and isn't supposed to be: it's simply the Oreo cookie that each individual comedian fills with his or her own brand of--well, given how many different types of bodily fluids and semi-fluids are spewed, swirled and sloshed around in most versions, I don't suppose that "cream filling" is the most apt of metaphors, is it? Incest, bestiality, necrophilia and various other sorts of less than sterling human behavior are all in a day's work here; The Aristocrats is proudly trumpeted as a film with something to offend everyone, and personally I was doing just fine until Andy Dick described a "strawberry sundae". (Congratulations, Andy, both for tipping my personal scale and for living up to half your name!) To call this movie "uneven" is to either miss or belabor the point; it's a given that some comics tell the joke funnier than others, but how funny you find individual renditions will probably depend on your liking of the comedians involved. (For me: George Carlin, Paul Reiser and Michael McKean si, Rip Taylor and Carrot Top no way, Jose!) It also goes without saying that the best variations on the story are the most unique, original or imaginative: particularly the card trick, the mime act and the Amish version (which was completely clean, but drew one of the biggest laughs from my audience). Paradoxically, I laughed harder at some of the good stuff than I did maybe at any movie since South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, and yet must stop short of a full recommendation because the very concept of the movie is problematic: it kills the joke by explaining it to death. Far too many jump cuts, overdubs and other editing tricks get in the way of the enjoyment (what's the point of intercutting between two top-ranked comedians telling the joke the exact same way, anyway?); this is one of the only movies ever made where I desperately wanted the filmmakers to nail the freaking camera to the ground already! Nowhere is this more evident than in Gilbert Gottfried's post-9/11 Friars Club performance, which is repeatedly described as brilliant, hilarious and cleansing...but the problem is, directors Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette keep interrupting Gottfried's footage to cut back to people telling us how great his version was. Consequently, and obviously through no fault of his own, Gottfried loses all momentum and I honestly didn't see what made it so special. Sadly, if I were to retell this movie as an Aristocrats joke, it would go something like this: "A family walks into a talent agent's office. They tell him, 'Wait 'til you see our act!' The agent asks 'What is it?' Halfway through, the agent falls asleep."… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
4
JakeOct 4, 2006
There's really not enough substance to keep it interesting for an hour and a half......and for some reason I didn't find it all that shocking...nothing I hadn't heard before. There are a few funny bits, but really, it was There's really not enough substance to keep it interesting for an hour and a half......and for some reason I didn't find it all that shocking...nothing I hadn't heard before. There are a few funny bits, but really, it was quite disappointing....just more self-indulgent nonsense from Hollywood… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
6
GaborA.Feb 11, 2006
Gilbert Godfrey's rendition of the joke was single handedly worth the price of admission.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
5
MattA.Feb 3, 2006
One review says that you'll either love it and laugh the whole time or be terribly offended. I disagree. I wasn't offended one bit (on the contrary, I think I could come up with a better aristocrats joke than half these guys), but One review says that you'll either love it and laugh the whole time or be terribly offended. I disagree. I wasn't offended one bit (on the contrary, I think I could come up with a better aristocrats joke than half these guys), but I was hardly laughing the whole time. Although there are a few funny moments (Bob Saget's is overrated, Cartman is hilarious), it wears really thin by the end, and the last third at least is just really tedious. One of the weakest documentaries in a year full of great ones including Murderball, Grizzly Man, Enron, and New York Doll.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
6
EthanP.Mar 25, 2006
I can break this movie into three tones: extraordinarily hilarious (when the comedians are trying to be funny and are actually telling the joke)...probably accounts for 30 minutes at most. Insightful (a few really perceptive remarks about I can break this movie into three tones: extraordinarily hilarious (when the comedians are trying to be funny and are actually telling the joke)...probably accounts for 30 minutes at most. Insightful (a few really perceptive remarks about the jokes from the comedians)...about 3 minutes. Banal (the same lame thought repeated over and over...the bulk of the movie. Now let's get Drew Carey to say it this way. Now it's time for us to get George Carlin to spin it this way. For us, it's now time to hear Robin Williams say it in a way like this. Mind you, it's not the repetition of the joke that's bad. It's the repetition of the stupid thoughts about the joke that are bad. Let me repeat that in slightly different words. Apparently, the editor was wasted and/or needed 90 mintues of footage. Oh, and the buildup to Gilbert Gottfried's alledgedly best-ever telling of the joke is so asinine. It was probably very funny in the context of 3-weeks-after-9/11. It is not at all funny in the context of this film, wherein his telling of the joke has already been said almost verbatim all throughout the movie. Let me repeat that...… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
5
TomM.-Feb 22, 2006
Aristocrats is a great a movie as reviews suggest. It consists of telling the same joke or parts of it about 1,019 times and the joke is not even funny after the second time. It's only worth your time because of all of the great Aristocrats is a great a movie as reviews suggest. It consists of telling the same joke or parts of it about 1,019 times and the joke is not even funny after the second time. It's only worth your time because of all of the great comedians that somehow got paid off to do the movie. Not Recommended.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
6
RonN.Apr 14, 2006
First off - anyone that gave this a rating of 2 or lower should be banned from EVER giving another review again. Anyone that thinks this movie was suppose to be funny (for the actual joke) needs to check into rehab ASAP. Also, anyone First off - anyone that gave this a rating of 2 or lower should be banned from EVER giving another review again. Anyone that thinks this movie was suppose to be funny (for the actual joke) needs to check into rehab ASAP. Also, anyone who's review went down the road of complaining how "The Joke had to be explained" - PLEASE do society a favor - DO NOT HAVE KIDS! Come on folks - it was a documentary … Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
4
CircusSep 21, 2010
Its a shame that they did not just have the entire footage for each comedian from start to finish rather than merely showing exerps from each comedian. Not for the faint hearted. Possibly the most foul things to hear. Hilarious to see someIts a shame that they did not just have the entire footage for each comedian from start to finish rather than merely showing exerps from each comedian. Not for the faint hearted. Possibly the most foul things to hear. Hilarious to see some comedians such as Gilbert Gottfried but others don't make me laugh as much. It's easier to type it into youtube to find your favourite comedian telling the joke.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
6
lususgreeneMay 13, 2011
I laughed, I busted a gut, it was hilarious. Once. When I saw this movie the first time I thought it was histerical. Everytime I tried to watch it after I couldn't get 15 minutes in before I would get bored and turn it off. This movie seemsI laughed, I busted a gut, it was hilarious. Once. When I saw this movie the first time I thought it was histerical. Everytime I tried to watch it after I couldn't get 15 minutes in before I would get bored and turn it off. This movie seems to have a serious lack of staying power.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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