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76
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9
17
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53
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66
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45
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61
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43
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66
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29
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23
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80
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61
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39
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xx
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30
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34
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60
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32
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27
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41
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39
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46
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73
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78
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55
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66
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69
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58
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47
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66
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34
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33
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54
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67
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51
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42
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28
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63
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86
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35
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48
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30
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53
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24
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83
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33
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45
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55
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47
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96
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35
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28
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88
Up![]()
71
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67
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28
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73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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58
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96
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56
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72
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39
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78
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61
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66
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xx
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58
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72
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73
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62
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55
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76
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86
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13
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70
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35
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71
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51
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76
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26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
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45
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81
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70
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45
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xx
Carriers
55
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57
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62
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65
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69
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59
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82
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75
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82
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67
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xx
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71
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70
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24
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85
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55
Endgame
xx
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xx
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Fatal Promises
56
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62
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74
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49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
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28
Free Style
xx
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50
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25
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50
Give Me Your Hand
58
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72
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89
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52
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66
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81
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xx
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63
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73
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xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
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94
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29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
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70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
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41
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41
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66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
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83
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xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
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77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
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46
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39
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89
Still Walking![]()
50
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55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
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61
Trucker
xx
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83
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66
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66
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70
Visual Acoustics
55
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67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Life of Reilly, The

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 19 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Documentary
Written by:
Charels Nelson Reilly
Paul Linke
Directed by:
Frank L. Anderson
Barry Poltermann
Release Date:
Theatrical: November 9, 2007
Running Time: 87 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING:
Starring Charels Nelson Reilly
If, in 1940, you had a lobotomized aunt, an institutionalized father, and a racist mother, and were the only gay kid on the block, what do you think the odds would be that you'd end up a Tony winner, a staple of television, and a generational icon? Enter The Life of Reilly. The cliché goes that truth is stranger than fiction. In this case, it is also funnier and more heartbreaking. Charles Nelson Reilly, famous for his game show innuendos and X-Files guest appearances, takes us through his bizarre, star-studded, tragic, hilarious, and ultimately amazing life with a potent blend of tenderness and quick one-liners. The Life of Reilly is an adaptation of Mr. Reilly's acclaimed one-man show and was photographed for the screen during Mr. Reilly's final two performances of his play in North Hollywood, California. (Vagrant Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site View The Trailer
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...
Film Threat K.J. Doughton
Check out The Life of Reilly, for a real-life example of carpe diem energy too pure and unrefined to be silenced by discrimination or negative family vibes.
Read Full Review >Variety Joe Leydon
With equal measures of prickly wit, gleeful pride and bemused gratitude, Charles Nelson Reilly looks back at his life, and invites his audience to share the view, in this thoroughly engaging filmization of his one-man stage show.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
Despite his obvious infirmities, Reilly infuses his performance with a great deal of energy -- frequently shouting his lines for emphasis -- and, of course, perfect comic timing. It's fortunate that we have this filmed record -- directed by Barry Poltermann and Frank Anderson -- of a memorable solo performance by a true show business original.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Director Barry Poltermann’s sweet little evocation of a show business career captures Reilly at “the twilight of an extraordinary life,” in Reilly’s words.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Best remembered as the most flamboyant of TV's original "Hollywood Squares" - which is really saying something on a panel that included Paul Lynde.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
The actor holds the stage with his warm humor and emotionally charged anecdotes.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
By the time Reilly's shaggy life story winds down, it's hard not to wish he'd been your friend, too.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
If you think of Reilly as little more than a camp icon, you've got a lot to learn.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
This charming, bittersweet 90-minute monologue consists of the actor telling tales of his childhood and early years, when he was an ugly duckling from an uglier family. The anecdotes are bruisingly funny and delivered with clarity and light mockery.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Ann Hornaday
The Life of Reilly pays fitting homage to a man who deserves to be remembered for much more than just trading double-entendres with Brett Somers on "The Match Game."
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
Occasionally you see a documentary and it hits you how much you don’t know about someone who was part of your mental landscape.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Aaron Hillis
There are the stories of his racist mom, lobotomized aunt, and a TV exec who told him he’d never find work as a homosexual -- and the more charming tale of his Uta Hagen acting class, which yielded nothing but future A-listers (Steve McQueen, Jason Robards, Jack Lemmon and Anne Meara, to name a few).
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Charles Nelson Reilly is still alive, dammit, and boy does he have a story to tell.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Matt Zoller Seitz
Built around “Save It for the Stage,” a one-man stage show by Charles Nelson Reilly, a showbiz gadfly and Tony Award-winning theater director.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
It's a funny and frequently affecting reminiscence from a man whose TV antics obscured a long, respectable career as a stage actor and director.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Reilly, in his 70s, takes us through his hilariously awful childhood: Eugene O'Neill as toxic high camp.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
