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Bamboozled
Metascore
50 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 32
  3. Negative: 6 out of 32
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  1. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    100
    Lee's incendiary and brilliant new film.
    All this critic's reviews
  2. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    88
    Starts out hilarious and then turns very, very grim.
    All this critic's reviews
  3. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    88
    Nothing seriously detracts from the film's overall brilliance.
    All this critic's reviews
  4. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    78
    Too much is tossed into the ring and the last hour becomes a frantic swell of emotions and ideas, not all of which are exactly on point.
  5. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    75
    It's a unique blend of history and hysteria, and there's no escaping the dead-serious ideas that run beneath its flamboyant surface.
  6. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    75
    It's a film about dumbing down that has the effect of wising up its audience.
    All this critic's reviews
  7. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    75
    Guaranteed to inspire, antagonize and divide his (Lee's) audience.
  8. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    70
    Spike Lee's explosive, near-masterpiece media satire balances between brilliance and incoherence.
  9. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    70
    Spike Lee has grabbed a tiger by the tail in his scabrously risky new comedy, Bamboozled. The wonder is how long he succeeds in hanging on.
  10. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    70
    What the movie lacks in clarity, it makes up for in honesty, toughness, relentlessness and passion.
  11. San Francisco Examiner
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    63
    Collapses under its own contempt.
    All this critic's reviews
  12. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    63
    Ends with a fizzle, not a bang.
    All this critic's reviews
  13. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    60
    This is less a movie than a lecture. Perhaps Lee simply should have made a documentary.
  14. TNT RoughCut
    Reviewed by: Andy Klein
    60
    By the end, we simply have no idea what he (Lee) feels or what the film is really about. And we are too worn out to care.
    All this critic's reviews
  15. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    58
    Nothing Lee has done is as flashy or as mucked up as Bamboozled.
  16. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    50
    Spike Lee misjudged his material and audience. He doesn't find a successful way to express his feelings, angers and satirical points.
  17. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    50
    Angry, potentially offensive movie.
    All this critic's reviews
  18. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    50
    On both technical and conceptual levels, Bamboozled is a movie that will leave Spike Lee fans bewildered.
  19. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    50
    It's an unpleasant experience, and a long one, that gets more morose and melodramatic as it goes along.
  20. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    50
    A frustratingly uneven satire with undeniably sharp teeth, isn't afraid to shoot comic darts at its targets until blood is drawn.
    All this critic's reviews
  21. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Amy Taubin
    50
    Primary story line is clumsy and badly acted. But he (Lee) reminds you that movies have power, that they matter, and for a few brilliant moments, Bamboozled matters more than any other American movie this year.
  22. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    50
    Lee's new racial satire starts out strong but loses its way.
  23. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Ernest Hardy
    50
    Infuriating on almost every conceivable level.
  24. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    50
    It's the angriest film an unfailingly angry filmmaker has yet made, skewering almost everyone in it, both black and white.
  25. Variety
    Reviewed by: Emanuel Levy
    50
    Occasionally biting but excessively melodramatic.
  26. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    40
    Spike Lee lost his nerve -- there are moments here, too, when it also seems like he lost his sense.
  27. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    38
    This is the kind of misfire that can take everyone down with it. It's not just bad, it's mean-bad.
  28. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    38
    The film's as chaotic and heavy-handed as "Summer of Sam" without the same sense of harsh reality.
  29. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Michael Atkinson
    27
    If Lee's intention was to cement our loathing of blackface comedy, he's succeeded all too well.
    All this critic's reviews
  30. Slate
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    20
    One of the least entertaining satires ever made.
  31. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    20
    With conceptual misfires like this, Lee's best work recedes even more swiftly into the past.
  32. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    0
    Angry, fitfully provocative mess.
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User Reviews

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User Score
7.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 21 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 13
  3. Negative: 3 out of 13
  1. ArmChairCritic5
    2
    In this depiction of race and race relations, the white man is still in power and is only interested in exploiting black people and assuming black culture. The white TV writers and bosses are stupid, insensitive, and racists who love racist material. This is, of course, a racist presentation of white people. On the other side, you've got essentially two kinds of black people. Authentic blacks who are part of the resistance, and the sellouts. You can tell which ones are the sellouts because they wear/perform blackface and get shot to death by the authentic resistors. The whole thing is unbelievably blunt, simplistic, and thoughtless exploration of race, power, and the history of racism in America. I suspect many will presume there is some kind of enlightened message buried deep within the satire that emerges with enough searching and pressure, but there's really no excuse for the kind of 2-D typecast representations of whiteness and what Lee sees as modern day uncle toms who play along. It's a crap way of telling stories, and it's a crap way of looking at life too for that matter. Looking at people and seeing only objects is, after all, kind of what started this whole race mess in the beginning.… Full Review »
  2. AlessioP.
    4
    Basically, it's a mediocre film, like could be one made by college students. And I'm not talking only about the technique (the camera is always shaking, and the p.of views are questionable) or the acting (amateurish at best) but of the theme itself. Everyone is a caricature, a forced portrait of a stereotype. The end leaves you unsatisfied, because no one of the character is worth to stand up and worthy express an opinion: they are all stupid or out-of-reality regretful about racism. This is my first Lee movie, and since now i thought he was a great director since he is so famous. Until now.… Full Review »
  3. Stephen
    9
    It boggles my mind how a film like "You don't mess with the Zohan" can have a metacritic score higher than that of Bamboozled. How does that even happen? If anything, it shows the current state that we are in as a society -- where a quick fix of laughter is more "enjoyable" than a brooding dark comedy/tragedy. For all the reservations I have of Spike Lee as a director and a spokesmodel for everything that is "colored", this film was excellent in almost every way. I am fully aware that Lee fails to answer his own questions on race. Unfortunately, that is the problem with the whole notion of race. It being a social construction, there really is no "solution" for it. Using a rather postmodern approach, Lee explains this in an eloquent manner.… Full Review »
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