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Filth and Wisdom

Play trailer Poster for Filth and Wisdom Released Oct 17, 2008 1h 21m Comedy Drama Romance Music Play Trailer Watchlist
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24% Tomatometer 62 Reviews 42% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Three London flat-mates (Eugene Hutz, Holly Weston, Vicky McClure) toil at demeaning jobs while dreaming of better lives.
Filth and Wisdom

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Filth and Wisdom, while certainly ambitious, is mostly unconvincing and incoherent.

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Critics Reviews

View All (62) Critics Reviews
Kaleem Aftab Independent (UK) The humour is slight and the directing often perfunctory, with Madonna failing to get more than ordinary performances from her cast. May 15, 2018 Full Review Ben Kenigsberg Time Out Rated: 2/5 Nov 18, 2011 Full Review Joshua Rothkopf Time Out Rated: 2/5 Nov 17, 2011 Full Review Debbie Lynn Elias Behind The Lens Enticing, entertaining and yes, sexy, but with a sentimental poignancy all its own, the best bit of wisdom I can offer you this week is to check out Filth And Wisdom. Nov 7, 2019 Full Review Fr. Chris Carpenter Orange County and Long Beach Blade Madonna's direction isn't half-bad...too bad she chose a poor script teeming with uninteresting characters Rated: C- Feb 27, 2009 Full Review Brian Orndorf BrianOrndorf.com Either Madonna failed to successfully guide her movie to a coherent state of mind or she simply has no gift for filmmaking. A case could be made for both, though the latter is an awfully tempting summarization of Filth and Wisdom. Rated: D Nov 13, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (141) audience reviews
Bjrn K So it's not a homerun for the general audience, but certainly fits a niche for the hungry eyes out there. I had a lot of fun watching this, and you can't really judge this movie like you would a blockbuster. i was expecting nothing but got plenty. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Loved every minute of this movie, everybody delivered everything oh so well! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Madonna, the renaissance woman of the 21st century. After making music, acting and writing children's books she finally tackled filmmaking in 2008. Like most- if not all- of her creative efforts, this cinematic debut shows a lot of effort but finally lands on the wrong side of adequate. "Filth and Wisdom" tells the tale of a group of friends drifting in their creatively ambitious but poor lives. Madonna borrowns from the by now clichéd traditions of American indie films and British arthouse cinema, utilizing broken cuts and slightly surreal dialog. Fortunately she has put "Gogol Bordello," one of the most interesting current show bands in the center of the film. Their music and the charisma of the bandmembers are the only thing that save this from being a complete failure. In essence, what we have here is a film that has a rather mediocre script, good performances but obviously less-than-talented directing. Perhaps the pop diva will learn more interesting means of cinematic expression in her future projects, but with "Filth and Wisdom" she sadly falls flat on her face. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member A "bla" kind of movie, not unbearable but not enjoyable either. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member I like Madonna and I like Gogol Bordello... So WTF happened here? This should at least be watchable! It is not! I got bored out of my F****** mind and had to turn it off. Do not waste your time or money on this! Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Sometimes the emphasis needs to placed on the E in Experimental Film. That is exactly what this is, does that make it bad? No. It's enjoyable, and well directed, albeit not the best script (neither, though the worst). It is for a niche market, and was never released as a commercial endeavour, or for the purpose of commercial success. Again, unfortunately adding Madonna's name to the project means it started with criticism in abundance before the trailer was even released... which is not fair at all. If Woody Allen released it, it would be called a camp undervalued gem. But, sadly, names and associations speak louder than the film itself. Well done on this, specially for a first time filmmaker!! But, experience aside, I still like it. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Filth and Wisdom

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Three London flat-mates (Eugene Hutz, Holly Weston, Vicky McClure) toil at demeaning jobs while dreaming of better lives.
Director
Madonna
Producer
Nicola Doring
Screenwriter
Dan Cadan, Madonna
Distributor
IFC Films
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Romance, Music
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 17, 2008, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 18, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$22.4K
Runtime
1h 21m