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Can We Take a Joke?

Play trailer 1:43 Poster for Can We Take a Joke? 2016 1h 15m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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53% Tomatometer 19 Reviews 76% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Gilbert Gottfried, Penn Jillette, Jim Norton, Lisa Lampanelli, Heather McDonald, Karith Foster, Adam Carolla and other comics discuss how humor and free speech come under attack.
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Can We Take a Joke?

Critics Reviews

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Matt Zoller Seitz RogerEbert.com 07/29/2016
1.5/4
Plays as if you've been invited to read half of a courtroom transcript -- the defense's half -- while skipping past redacted text that might have complicated or undermined the argument. Go to Full Review
Michael Rechtshaffen Los Angeles Times 07/28/2016
"Can We Take a Joke?" ... poses a valid question at a juncture when freedom of speech is a hot topic, especially where the Internet is concerned. Go to Full Review
Neil Genzlinger New York Times 07/28/2016
It would be better if it ... at least acknowledged the possibility that some jokes ought not be told. Go to Full Review
Stephen Silver EntertainmentTell 08/14/2016
1.5/5
Overstates its case to a nearly comical degree, as a group of comedians claim censorship that doesn't exist (Splice Today) Go to Full Review
Avi Offer NYC Movie Guru 08/02/2016
5.57/10
Tackles a vital and provocative question, without a variety of different answers, it feels incomplete and unbalanced. Go to Full Review
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 08/02/2016
2/4
A sporadically interesting yet terminally unfocused documentary... Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Stephen C @bob25009 May 30 1.25 hours of real comedy footage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more 09/10/2020 If you get offended easily, you should watch this. There is something to be said for learning to accept that hearing things that you might find offensive eventually leads to growth and progress. If we don't know what offends us, how can we make changes? See more Ed M 07/03/2020 Kind of interesting. Nothing you haven't heard before. See more 04/30/2020 As serious a film about the duty of offensiveness in comedy as you could wish for. It's a timely reminder that freedom of speech is our only bulwark against dictatorship in all its guises. Fascinating interviews with comedians, commentators and politicians, and the only obvious failure is the absence of a voice from the other side of the debate. A long section Lenny Bruce, but nothing from Bill Hicks, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Joan Rivers, Louie C K. Presumably for rights reasons. See more paul s 11/17/2018 This is an excellent documentary about an incredibly important topic. Freedom of speech matters even if it hurts your feelings. I genuinely believe that the low tomatometer rating is because people are offended by the subject matter. See more @jhritz 05/03/2017 Struggles to make it to feature length, but has some interesting things to say about the thin-skinned that still show up at comedy clubs... See more Read all reviews
Can We Take a Joke?

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Movie Info

Synopsis Gilbert Gottfried, Penn Jillette, Jim Norton, Lisa Lampanelli, Heather McDonald, Karith Foster, Adam Carolla and other comics discuss how humor and free speech come under attack.
Director
Ted Balaker
Producer
Courtney Balaker, Ted Balaker
Distributor
Samuel Goldwyn Films
Production Co
Korchula Productions
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 29, 2016, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 2, 2016
Runtime
1h 15m
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