The Best and the Brightest

R

Released Oct 16, 2010

1 hr. 33 min.

Comedy

List

26%

19 Reviews

Tomatometer

30%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Samantha (Bonnie Somerville) and Jeff (Neil Patrick Harris) realize they will have to go to great lengths to get their 5-year-old daughter into school.

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Audience Member

Silly and ridiculous with a great cast of characters.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Hey hey! you will never love me the way I love you and Iam ok with that because no one can love you as much as I love you so stick with me? I think Im getting better with age. -J.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Absurd premise and weak script doom this comedy about haute-preschool angst.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There were some funny parts, but this felt to me like another "kid movie for adults", ie: kid type humor with tons of sexual content and swearing. If a kid were allowed to watch through the heavy R rating, I'm sure they would have thought it was great.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There is almost no plot to speak of, but some of the dialogue is absolutely hilarious. And, I mean, who can go wrong with Neil Patrick Harris? It's insipid, pointless and sometimes incredibly crass, but I enjoyed it anyway. There's nothing wrong with mindless comedy once in a while, and this is one of the more fun mindless comedies I've seen recently.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There were cute parts, but it was weak.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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Josh Shelov

Director

Neil Patrick Harris

Jeff

Bonnie Somerville

Samantha

Amy Sedaris

Sue Lemon

Peter Serafinowicz

Clark

Christopher McDonald

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John DeFore

Hollywood Reporter

Absurd premise and weak script doom this comedy about haute-preschool angst.

Jun 24, 2011

Full Review

Lou Lumenick

New York Post

Josh Shelov's smug and smutty farce employs an estimable cast in an only sporadically funny story...

Rated: 1.5/4

Jun 24, 2011

Full Review

Joe Neumaier

New York Daily News

Far too many sitcom shenanigans crop up like clockwork...

Rated: 2/5

Jun 24, 2011

Full Review

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...it's finally impossible to label The Best and the Brightest as anything more than a sporadically amusing misfire.

Rated: 2/4

Oct 19, 2011

Full Review

Brent Simon

Shared Darkness

A slim pan. While there's a certain novelty of setting and a lot of its dialogue pops, the movie's chief problem is the fact that it doesn't seem to wholly embrace the arguably detestable nature of its characters.

Rated: C+

Jun 29, 2011

Full Review

Avi Offer

NYC Movie Guru

A politically incorrect farce that's increasingly preposterous and inane yet nonetheless hilarious, zany and bold. Amy Sedaris has never been funnier.

Rated: 7/10

Jun 24, 2011

Full Review

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Synopsis

Samantha (Bonnie Somerville) and Jeff (Neil Patrick Harris) realize they will have to go to great lengths to get their 5-year-old daughter into school.

Director: Josh Shelov
Executive Producer: Richard S. Schiffrin
Screenwriter: Michael Jaeger, Josh Shelov
Production Co: High Treason Productions
Rating: R (Pervasive Language|Some Nudity|Sexual Content)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 16, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016

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