Metacritic Film

Amateurs, The

Starring Jeff Bridges, Tim Blake Nelson, Joe Pantoliano, William Fichtner, Ted Danson, Patrick Fugit, Glenne Headly, Lauren Graham, and Jeanne Tripplehorn

MPAA RATING: R for sexual content and language

Bauer Martinez Studios
Comedy
100 minutes | Color
USA / Germany
Released In Theaters December 7, 2007

Sex sells in America, and these guys know it. When Andy discovers that his ex-wife has married an extremely wealthy man who is now his son's "cool" stepfather, he becomes motivated to make a change in his life. With the help of his friends, a small-town group of lovable losers, they hit upon an idea to make their dreams come true. The grand plan that will lead to a life of riches and fame is to make the world's most innocent adult film. Every man's fantasy turns into a hilarious misadventure when they find that they're in way over their heads. (First Look Studios)

WRITTEN BY
Michael Traeger

DIRECTED BY
Michael Traeger

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

45 / 100

Critic Reviews

75	Rolling Stone You'll notice that the actors are way overqualified for this nonsense. But the kick they get out of one another is what pulls you in. Traeger's script does more than strain credulity, it administers multiple fractures.
50	The Hollywood Reporter The film clicks briefly when capturing the silliness of XXX concerns, especially in script-development scenes. But whatever hilarity might have prevailed on the set doesn't translate to the screen. Intrusive music and last-act contrivances do nothing to lift the flat tone or allow the film to earn its intended emotional payoff.
50	LA Weekly The Amateurs is nothing if not easy to watch. Yet, as a writer, Traeger is consternatingly adolescent and glib.
33	Portland Oregonian All this star power goes for naught in Traeger's film, which tries to blend bucolic sweetness with juvenile let's-make-a-porno jokes.
30	Los Angeles Times Dennis Lim There are no laughs to be found in writer-director Michael Traeger's would-be comedy The Amateurs, but there is one big mystery: how actors of this caliber could have been convinced to take part.
25	Seattle Post-Intelligencer A sleazy, uninspired, pathetically unfunny sex farce.

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