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The Animal
Metascore
43 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 22 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 22
  3. Negative: 4 out of 22
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  1. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    80
    An outrageous and imaginative summer comedy.
  2. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    80
    Transcendently dumb but very funny comedy.
  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    70
    Genial rather than an affront to good taste. It's also pretty darn funny.
  4. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    67
    While a good deal funnier than ''Deuce Bigelow,'' is still destined to get branded, if not condemned, as ''dumb.''
  5. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Susan Wloszczyna
    63
    Schneider, with his cherub curls and scrawny physique, adopts a pussycat persona that engenders goodwill.
  6. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    60
    If The Animal -- co-written by Schneider and Tom Brady -- never quite gets fired up, at least it chugs along efficiently on its mildly inspired ridiculousness.
  7. Variety
    Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    60
    A sweethearted trifle.
  8. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    50
    Judging by the audience reaction -- there is apparently something funny about the idea of a man trying to hump a goat in heat.
  9. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Foreman
    50
    Isn't quite up to the comic standard of Rob Schneider's 1999 hit "Deuce Bigalow, Male Gigolo."
  10. Slate
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    50
    A perfectly decent second-banana, Rob Schneider, has been over-optimistically elevated to the top of the bunch.
  11. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Lisa Alspector
    50
    Mild gross-out comedy integrates a non sequitur -- a running joke made by a sidekick -- into the plot, providing some payoff.
  12. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Cody Clark
    40
    The worst thing about The Animal -- is how frequently it becomes boring.
  13. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    40
    The movie's selling point is Schneider acting goofy, chewing on worms, making goo-goo eyes at a she-goat and licking his private parts.
  14. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    40
    Hardly a comic masterpiece -- the jokes are awfully broad and obvious -- but I couldn't help feeling relieved at the film's absence of malice.
  15. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ernest Hardy
    40
    The Animal is tailor-made for last-resort Friday-night rentals.
  16. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    40
    If this adds up to a full-fledged feature film, I'm a monkey's uncle.
    All this critic's reviews
  17. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Megan Rosenfeld
    40
    Let's face it, some people find butt and bathroom comedy funny. And some don't.
  18. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    40
    A film you can dump your kids off at the mall to see in order to get peace and quiet for an hour and a half.
  19. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    25
    Has amusing bits of social satire, but they're crowded out of the stable by lots of bathroom and barnyard humor.
  20. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Larry Worth
    25
    Through it all, Rob Schneider comes off as a jackass in The Animal.
    All this publication's reviews
  21. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Mary Brennan
    20
    It's just not funny.
  22. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    10
    Reeks like something produced from a squatting position.
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User Reviews

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User Score
5.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 13
  3. Negative: 3 out of 13
  1. MichaelC.
    4
    What is the recipe for a great Rob Schneider comedy? Well, according to The Animal?s director, it?s a bunch of obvious jokes, a predictable ending, a sexy lady and a dorky hero who manages to be loveable and appeal to the hot lady for no reason at all. This director does not really understand a recipe for a great Rob Schneider comedy. This movie is simply a replay of all the bad ?dumb-fun? comedies from the past few years with a few more lame jokes added in and a terrible ending. Disappointingly, seeing Schneider jump around like a monkey, swim like a dolphin and leap like a leopard didn?t interest me, despite all the similes it can produce. Although The Animal?s premise does sound quite intriguing, it does not work with Rob Schneider and all the unfunny gags. As a smart, sophisticated comedy with worthy actors and a lot more clever quotes and comic scenes, this would?ve worked. Unfortunately, the chemistry sucks, the actors suck, the story sucks and the longevity factor sucks. This is just one big sucky movie that I can?t recommend even for teenagers and people who don?t look for quality in a film and just want brainless entertainment, you might like it. As any of the above, The Animal just really didn?t do it for me. Sorry, Adam, even your ?surprise? cameo can?t ?do it.? … Full Review »
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