74
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenFocusing on the magazine and not its offshoots, the film is uproarious, not for what its many talking heads say but for its astonishing procession of brilliant, boundary-breaching illustrations and captions (augmented by some animation), many of which are as explosively funny today as they were when first published.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeEnergetic, laugh-stuffed and very colorful (it would be a feat to make a dull film about these people).
- 80VarietyBen KenigsbergVarietyBen KenigsbergA generous and briskly entertaining doc.
- 80Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfTirola’s punchy timeline hits the breaks at the ’80s flameout, wobbling in its handling of self-destructive editor Doug Kenney. But until the defunct Lampoon starts magically reappearing in your mailbox, this excellently titled pic will do nicely.
- 75The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezComedy enthusiasts will love the look back on the groundbreaking magazine, its talented players, and the way the doc captures its irreverent spirit.
- 75Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreSatire, parody, racist skewerings of racism, sacred cows slaughtered, silly slides down the slippery slope into Anti-Semitism. And breasts. Lots and lots of breasts!
- 75The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloUltimately, what makes Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead valuable is the sense it provides of how savage and uncompromising the National Lampoon was in its heyday.
- 63RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyRogerEbert.comGlenn KennyIf you’re a scholar of comedy, Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon, a concise doc about the founding, life, thriving, and death of the '70s-defining satirical magazine, is likely a must-see. It’s an engaging and entertaining film, filled with funny anecdotes expertly related.
- 50Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlIt's dispiriting that a film about a humor magazine that broke and rebuilt the forms of both humor and magazines is itself so staid — and so lacking in sociologic sweep.
- 38Slant MagazineClayton DillardSlant MagazineClayton DillardIt mistakes touch-and-go navel-gazing for comprehension, as if speaking to as many subjects as possible produces an inherently compelling take.