Cold Turkey

PG-13

Released Feb 19, 1971

1h 39m

Comedy

List

60%

15 Reviews

Tomatometer

65%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

In the depressed town of Eagle Rock, Reverend Brooks (Dick Van Dyke) spearheads his community's effort to rise to the Cold Turkey challenge. The Valiant Tobacco Company has promised a $25,000 cash prize to any town in America that can quit smoking for 30 days. So Brooks leads the charge in this Battle of the Butts, hoping to become the local hero in the process. However, when ad executive Merwin Wren (Bob Newhart) shows up to undermine his efforts, this wicked comedy kicks into high gear.

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Steve O

Rare 5-Stars ! ! ! Visual, sound, collaborative acting, subtle social commentary in words and pictures. Wish they could make a movie this good again.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/02/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Would you be willing to quit smoking for $25,000,000? It's tough to go cold turkey when the tobacco industry itself makes its money daily to millions of citizens across the nation. One town called Eagle Rock Director Norman Lear, Dick Van Dyke and Bob Newhart with several other players star in a satirical comedy. Randy Newman also composes the music here in one of his earliest works pre-PIXAR. Dyke plays the town's minister Brooks who wants to raise the spirits of the townsfolk by participating in the challenge. But can they do it for 30 days? Considering the town's financial hardship smoking seems like the only way to cope with it. They resort to other ways to indulge themselves whether it's food, drinking, sex etc. Yet the town booms in becoming a big tourist attraction thanks to the contest. Newhart as Merwin shows up though to undermine his efforts. Comedy then ensues. I love how there's a characature of Walter Cronkite covering the event. There's a big statement about human traits sprinkled throughout from greed, deceit, and selfishness. You take away one commodity from the population they're used to having and chaos takes hold. If profit takes over the soul of a place what will it mean to the rest of the world? Cold Turkey shows how addicted certain individuals can be and how long they can actually withstand abstaining from the one thing that's a part of their daily routine. Consumers, marketers, and politicians are all in the same boat with funny results when it comes to smoking. I got some good chuckles from this.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Very funny movie with a great cast that most people probably have never heard of.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

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Audience Member

What a laugh riot fest filled with inappropriate Historical Sexism. you need to see to believe and REMEMBER, lest you forget.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

70's concept comedy with great cast. Smoking was ingrained in the culture at this time, so it resonates more with boomers.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A town quits smoking to win 25 million dollars in this hilarious comedy.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

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Norman Lear

Director

Dick Van Dyke

Rev. Clayton Brooks

Pippa Scott

Natalie Brooks

Tom Poston

Mr. Stopworth

Edward Everett Horton

Hiram C. Grayson

Bob Elliott

Hugh Upson

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Margaret Hinxman

Daily Telegraph (UK)

The special agony that grips Cold Turkey by the windpipe is how to stop smoking. And the film is funniest when it concentrates on that monumental exercise in will-power beside which the Perils of Pauline pale into minor irritants.

Mar 17, 2020

Full Review

Stefan Kanfer

TIME Magazine

An extended sitcom loaded with the kind of jokes that induce canned laughter.

Mar 23, 2015

Full Review

Tom Milne

Time Out

Irritation mounts as tiresome running gags run the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal into the ground.

Jun 24, 2006

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

Some of the laughs are aging better than others, but the reason to watch “Cold Turkey” today might be in recollecting its Culture Wars significance, its post-tipping point in the war with Big Tobacco moment in time

Rated: 2.5/4

Jun 30, 2023

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

The script for Cold Turkey is fairly ragged, but the movie deserves credit for its willingness to wallow in the murky depths of black comedy.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 11, 2021

Full Review

Michael J. Casey

Boulder Weekly

Lear's vision of consumers, marketers, and politicians all in bed together is as relevant now as it was then.

Rated: 4/5

Jun 26, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

In the depressed town of Eagle Rock, Reverend Brooks (Dick Van Dyke) spearheads his community's effort to rise to the Cold Turkey challenge. The Valiant Tobacco Company has promised a $25,000 cash prize to any town in America that can quit smoking for 30 days. So Brooks leads the charge in this Battle of the Butts, hoping to become the local hero in the process. However, when ad executive Merwin Wren (Bob Newhart) shows up to undermine his efforts, this wicked comedy kicks into high gear.

Director: Norman Lear
Production Co: Tandem Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Brief Strong Language|Smoking Content Throughout)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 19, 1971, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 17, 2017
Runtime: 1h 39m

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