Tickling Giants
| Release Date: March 15, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
78
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
VarietyOwen GleibermanMar 30, 2017
Tickling Giants is a terrific movie that leaves you cherishing (a little more) the freedom we have, and holding in contempt (a little more) those who would compromise it. Mostly, the movie makes you understand how every society — and ours more than ever — needs people like Bassem Youssef to demonstrate that laughter will always be one of the essential ways to keep power in check. Read full review
80
Total FilmKate StablesApr 9, 2017
Both smart political primer and tense cautionary tale. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranApr 7, 2017
Tickling Giants surprises us on several levels. It reveals Egypt’s familiar Arab Spring experience through a lens, that of satiric comedy, which is very different from the way we usually see it. And it has the personal element of Youssef’s involving story, showing what can happen when your dreams come true to a completely unexpected extent. Read full review
80
CineVueJohn BleasdaleMar 30, 2017
Youssef himself with his crooked smile and exuberant enthusiasm comes across as someone who in a normal state of affairs would be just another amiably slick joker. But in this context he takes on the bravery and the bearing of a hero. Read full review
80
The New York TimesKen JaworowskiMar 16, 2017
There’s a lot to laugh at, and to learn from, in Tickling Giants, a documentary that starts off by telling the story of one man and ends up speaking volumes about satire, freedom of expression and political pressure. Read full review
80
Screen DailyDavid D'ArcyMar 15, 2017
Tickling Giants shows how a window of freedom and hope can unleash surges of creativity, like the improbable overnight success of a surgeon satirist. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jul 6, 2017
Taksler’s film is a testament to the quick slide from democracy to tyranny and a reminder to watch closely what political leaders do with the free press. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleLeba HertzMar 23, 2017
Entertaining yet somber documentary. Read full review
75
The PlaylistMichael GarmonswayMar 15, 2017
The toughest thing about watching ‘Giants’ is the fear of inevitable, the fear that all of this could easily come crashing down, with Youssef displaying a thorough lack of respect for a government he’s long lost faith in, via a program that will certainly violate the country’s censorship laws. Read full review
70
Village VoiceCraig D. LindseyMar 15, 2017
Tickling Giants comes off as both a fact-based look at fighting fire with funny and a prescient cautionary tale. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMar 15, 2017
Tickling Giants provides a comprehensive examination of Youssef’s career highs and lows while providing a vivid personal portrait of its subject whose cheerfulness and resolve began to wither in the face of constant threats to himself and his family. Read full review
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