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Idiocracy
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Idiocracy reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 64 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.6 out of 10
based on 8 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 77 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for language and sex-related humor

Starring Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard, Sara Rue, and Terry Crews

Private Joe Bowers (Wilson), the definition of "average American", is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program, set 545 years in the future. He discovers a society so incredibly dumbed-down that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.


GENRE(S): Comedy  
WRITTEN BY: Mike Judge (also story)
Etan Cohen
 
DIRECTED BY: Mike Judge  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: January 9, 2007 
Theatrical: September 1, 2006 
RUNNING TIME: 84 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

91
The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
There's a good chance that Judge's smartly lowbrow Idiocracy will be mistaken for what it's satirizing, but good satire always runs the risk -- of being misunderestimated.
Read Full Review
80
Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
It elicits so many laughs, in fact, that you have to wonder just what Judge did to piss off the suits at Fox so much that they would willingly torpedo one of the only genuinely hilarious movies to come out this year.
Read Full Review
80
Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
The plot, naturally, is silly and not exactly bound by logic. But it's Judge's gimlet-eyed knack for nightmarish extrapolation that makes Idiocracy a cathartic delight.
Read Full Review
70
The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden
Idiocracy, is often stingingly funny -- and an undeserving resident of the summer's-end movie dumping ground.
Read Full Review
67
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
The delivery in Idiocracy is frequently flat, but it's vision is dead-on.
Read Full Review
60
Variety Robert Koehler
A satire for its time. What Judge is less sure of here than in his previous, perfectly pitched live-action comedy "Office Space," is how to build a complete movie around his key ideas.
Read Full Review
40
LA Weekly Robert Abele
If you crave a lively and funny trek through the farcical possibilities of unchecked dimwit power, Judge is still your guy. Just go rent "Beavis and Butt-Head Do America" instead.
Read Full Review
40
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Judge races through some of his most provocative ideas in the opening minutes and ignores his story's many logical inconsistencies; the movie is bracing for its bile but ultimately more frustrating than funny.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 77 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Will B gave it a9:
This is a hilarious anti-corporate anti-cronyism comedy that deserves more recognition. Any studio executive in his right mind would bury this movie, and they did! I only happened to watch a few minutes of it when it was showing at 11:00pm on a Friday night on TV and the more I watched the better it got. All hail President Kumatro!

Zen O gave it a7:
Pretty decent heavy-handed satire with some funny moments. For those rating the film a zero, I would say you likely didn't understand the movie was about you, you've never seen Freddy Got Fingered, or you saw Freddy Got Fingered and thought it was a great movie.

Peter J. gave it a0:
Let me preface this by divulging that I have never given a movie a zero before. Until now. My only explanation for the movies high marks is that idiots themselves are watching this. I did not find one ounce of humor in this entire movie. Although I must admit I had to keep watching it. When I read reviews someone always says, "I want the last two hours of my life back." I feel that way for the first time ever after watching a movie.

David M. gave it a9:
Destined to be under-appreciated by all people who have good reasons to feel insecure about how well their brains work, Mike Judge's 'Idiocracy' seems to tip its hat to C.M. Kornbluth's 'The Marching Morons' (a must read) in the same way that Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil' tipped its hat to George Orwell's '1984'. Thus it's no wonder that the gigantic, mildly to severely retarded (both mentally and morally) corporation that helped Mr. Judge to realize his vision...should do virtually nothing to promote the film. Ironic but predictable. Okay, so when is genuine art NOT controversial? Thanks, Mr. Judge, for making yet another excellent movie that makes one care about "WHO'S ass is farting...and why."

Jack L. gave it a6:
A very "nice" reminder to the youth of America these days. The first half of the movie is fine but after that it collapses into the banal formula of an average comedy. Still, it has a loud and clear message/ concept.

Big R. gave it an8:
This movie never made me laugh out loud, but it did keep a half smirk/smile on my face for the entire running time. Shame it never got the release it deserved. It kind of scared me too. Don't try and compare it to Office Space. Nothing is going to be another Office Space. If you think this movie sucked it's only because the whole premise went over your head. You are the ones they are making fun of in the movie!

Joel W. gave it an8:
This movie is hilarious! It's the thinking-man's stupid comedy.

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