The Best and the Brightest

Name: The Best and the Brightest
Genre: Comedy
Released: June 24, 2011
Rating: 26

2011

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews

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Overwhelming dislike based on 4 Ratings

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1.5	User Score Overwhelming dislike based on 4 Ratings

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The Best And The Brightest

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Movie Details & Credits

"DIA" Productions GmbH & Co. KG | Release Date: June 24, 2011 | Not Rated

Summary: In the world of New York City's posh Upper East Side, the most sought-after spot is no longer the multimillion-dollar apartment. The Best and the Brightest centers on neophyte couple Jeff and Samantha, who after a recent move to the Upper East Side, discover how difficult it is to get their 5-year-old daughter into a top kindergarten. WhenIn the world of New York City's posh Upper East Side, the most sought-after spot is no longer the multimillion-dollar apartment. The Best and the Brightest centers on neophyte couple Jeff and Samantha, who after a recent move to the Upper East Side, discover how difficult it is to get their 5-year-old daughter into a top kindergarten. When they realize the great lengths they must go, they hire an “educational consultant” and design a scheme to get their daughter into the one open spot left in the most elite school in Manhattan.(Echo Bridge Entertainment)… Expand

Director: Josh Shelov

Genre(s): Comedy

Rating: Not Rated

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Critic Reviews

Movieline Michelle Orange

Jun 23, 2011

The goof on New York's awful elite only gets grimmer and less viable as the film goes on. Read full review

Nick Schager

Jun 21, 2011

The Best and the Brightest's sharp one-liners and strong cast, especially McDonald's gleefully lecherous performance as an unabashed Republican pervert, help make it a sturdy bit of subculture-tweaking silliness. Read full review

Connie Ogle

Jun 23, 2011

Amusing at times but never more than a modest diversion, lacking the cleverness and imagination required to turn it into more than a one-joke movie. Read full review

Eric Henderson

Jun 22, 2011

Writer-director Josh Shelov (working with co-writer Michael Jaeger) is trolling in fertile, easy territory, but rather than mine the subject for what it's worth, he resorts to depressingly cheap mistaken-identity shenanigans and raunchy "he-milk" gags. Read full review

Andrew Barker

Jun 21, 2011

Offering a fitfully funny sitcom plot clumsily stretched to 90 minutes, then goosed with increasingly tiresome doses of smuttiness and political incorrectness, The Best and the Brightest is neither. Read full review

Boxoffice Magazine John P. McCarthy

Jun 21, 2011

All you need to know about this low-budget farce is that Amy Sedaris costars (yippee!) and New York pol Anthony Weiner would feel right at home with the sexting subplot (eeeuw!). Read full review

Rex Reed

Jun 21, 2011

Cheap, preposterous and mind-bendingly dreadful. Read full review

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User Reviews

Myffubs

Jun 26, 2012

The Best and the Brightest certainly isn't deserving of its title. It lacks anything resembling goodness or intelligence. Its particularly foul sense of humor is at odds with the maturity level of anyone who might be drawn in by the promise of an interesting set-up. It's about a coupleThe Best and the Brightest certainly isn't deserving of its title. It lacks anything resembling goodness or intelligence. Its particularly foul sense of humor is at odds with the maturity level of anyone who might be drawn in by the promise of an interesting set-up. It's about a couple attempting to get their five-year-old into an excellent preschool, yet the humor suggests the movie is for people who really wouldn't put much emphasis on their child's education. The cultural elite is shown as stupid and morally bankrupt, but then, so are the protagonists. The actors don't seem to be acting, as the characters never feel like real people. If nothing else, they're almost always aware they're in front of a camera, either acting bizarrely inhuman or offering half-baked quips in order to amuse a theoretic audience. The Best and the Brightest is essentially sitcom-lite fluff that uses its nonrating to indulge in perversity. I call it perversity because some of the humor simply is dirty without the good grace of being funny. In fact, none of the humor is remotely funny. This is the sort of movie where the aforementioned five-year-old, the reason for the conflict at the center of the story, is reduced to "cute" reaction shots. That, and faux-intellectuals are wowed by sexually explicit instant-messenger logs. So at least viewers are offered the message that smart people are actually really stupid, too. What comfort for those who enjoy this movie.… Expand

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