| 75 |
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
Less a documentary than a love fest for Al Franken, this scattershot movie, shot over two years, follows the zigzag trail of political satirist Al Franken as he feuds with Bill O'Reilly, campaigns against George W. Bush, and helps establish Air America.
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| 70 |
Los Angeles Times
Carina Chocano
Captures comedian and pundit Al Franken evolving from satirist to activist.
|
| 67 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
The film ends with Franken contemplating a run for U.S. Senate, but it's clear that his political campaign began long ago.
|
| 63 |
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
Humorist and liberal radio talk-show host Al Franken is a funny guy, and most of the people he attacks - Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Dick Cheney - are not. But the joke was on him when George Bush won re-election in 2004.
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| 63 |
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
A lot of preaching to the converted.
|
| 63 |
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
Neither a profile nor a critique, though, the film's only focus is its subject's mild self-regard.
|
| 63 |
Miami Herald
Marta Barber
Listening to O'Reilly, Anne Coulter and others vilify Franken -- and vice versa -- is part of the dialogue that makes America great.
|
| 60 |
LA Weekly
Charles Taylor
Throughout God Spoke, Franken comes off as passionate and funny, with an impressive ability to muster facts and an absence of smugness.
|
| 60 |
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Sketchy but often entertaining.
|
| 50 |
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
The film ends before Franken can actually take the step from commentator to participant, which adds to its overall unfinished and unfocused air.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
Most of this doc is content to wander through Franken's recent show-biz resume, to no particular end.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
I love Franken and wish there were more funny liberals in the chattering class, but his crushing sarcasm wouldn't exactly elevate the national debate.
|
| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
A documentary in search of a story.
|
| 50 |
Premiere
Ethan Alter
It's great that the comedian felt the call of a higher office, but it's a call that apparently only he can hear.
|
| 50 |
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
For me, Franken is funniest at his least guarded and his most incorrect, and as he inches toward becoming a politician himself, we get less and less of that.
|
| 50 |
Variety
Joe Leydon
Despite these flashbacks, however, God Spoke never really delves into the reasons and/or motivations behind Franken's transformation from monologist and sketch-comedy performer to political pundit and liberal activist. Indeed, even during intimate moments, Franken rarely comes across as someone given to explaining himself.
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| 50 |
New York Magazine
David Edelstein
With the transformation of Al Franken from comedian to activist, Nick Doob and Chris Hegedus stumbled onto a good subject, but in the documentary Al Franken: God Spoke, they stumble around in it.
|
| 50 |
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
Even his fans may find themselves frustrated, since the film observes Mr. Franken closely without generating much insight into him.
|
| 42 |
Portland Oregonian
M. E. Russell
Fans of Franken's wittier print and broadcast work might smile. But I haven't seen this much smug, awkward laughter and bathos since, well, "Man of the Year."
|
| 40 |
Village Voice
Rob Nelson
Unfocused but brisk.
|
| 30 |
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
Neither as adroitly funny as Franken's comic routines, nor as notable as his conversion to the fine art of politics, this is a 90-minute "What If?" with no discernible answer.
|
| 30 |
The New Republic
Stanley Kauffmann
This film by Nick Doob and Chris Hegedus forces us to make some decisions about him. For myself, I find him generally gross, in person and in manner.
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