God Bless America 2012

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: ...isn't as smart as it would like to think it is. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Mr. Goldthwait's screenplay is essentially a comedy act fleshed out with a story he doesn't try to make convincing. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Goldthwait's primary strength as a writer-director has been in starting with outrageous, high-concept hooks that develop into subtler, more perceptive studies of human nature. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Interesting, sometimes kind of fun but, ultimately, not as satisfying as it might have been. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: "God Bless America" has a whole lotta "Taxi Driver" in it, and some "Network," and some "Heathers" (with Barr functioning as Christian Slater in the equation), and even some "Kick-Ass." Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: It's about a terminally ill man who decides that if he is going to die, he is going to grab a gun and take a whole bunch of obnoxious people with him. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: [It] turns in on its own morality like a Mobius strip, endorsing kindness by practicing slaughter, and pulls us along for the ride. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Bobcat Goldthwait's new movie is a burlesque that turns into a harangue that turns into a rampage. Read more

Eric D. Snider, Film.com: Sometimes you get the feeling Goldthwait is just making a list of the people he could do without, which is funny and makes you nod your head but doesn't add up to much. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Semi-comic fantasia of violence against vapid pop culture can't do justice to its own ideas. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: This funny, sick twist of social satire is certainly locked and loaded, even if its aim is sometimes off. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The film features elaborate (and spot-on) parodies of mean-girl reality shows, YouTube nonsense and fatuous news reports but the people are thin and the plot meanders a bit. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: Bobcat Goldthwait's bracing new black comedy... Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Given that the movie starts out in such interesting fashion, it's hugely disappointing to see it devolve so lazily into a generic vigilante fantasy. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: The real problem is there's just not enough plot on which to hang the message that mean people suck. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A lot of what God Bless America has to say is on-target and is presented in such a straightforward, unvarnished fashion that it's impossible to miss the honesty beneath the comedy. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Here is a film that begins with merciless comic savagery and descends into merely merciless savagery. But wow, what an opening. Read more

Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: In this "Falling Down" of pop-cultural observation, Goldthwait forgets the thrill of the chase; he's more concerned with piercing verbal barbs than actual suspense. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Goldthwait's ranting dialogue is stingingly funny and Murray and Barr are so agreeable you may find yourself rooting for "the bad guys." Read more

Ian Buckwalter, The Atlantic: This is no simple wish-fulfillment revenge fantasy. It's an indictment of us as viewers and tacit supporters of the cultural trash heap. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: This movie's idea of topical satire is to score points off of My Super Sweet 16 and legendary American Idol reject William Hung. Timely! Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: The movie is the kind of undercooked satire that might be mistaken for meaningful by the midnight-madness crowd; let's hope Goldthwait the stealth smartie returns posthaste. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: 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 more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: When the monotonous squib-popping subsides, the movie is often static and talky, lapsing into criticism-hedging qualifications and anti-everything speechifying. Read more