IMDb user comments for
The Stupids (1996)

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86 comments in total

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17 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
Stupid it may be....stupid its SUPPOSED to be!, 20 September 2002
Author: Noel Bailey (uds3@hotmail.com) from Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, Australia

Well guys, sorry to disappoint so many of you, but I thought this was one funny movie. I agree totally with a couple of reviewers who commented that you need to have on the right "mind-set" at the time. You need to have also a sense of the absurd here, if not the insane!

Landis is having a go at everyone and everyTHING in this ode to cinematic oafishness. He gets away with murder here, whereas Brian Levant who persists in trying to offer disastrously unfunny "family comedy" like THE FLINTSTONES simply falls over his own Director's chair.

I just about wet myself the first time I heard Arnold break out into his musical monologue "I AM MY OWN GRANDPA" That has to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen on the big screen. If you can't laugh at that - you're dead...or terminal!

Sure, its not for everyone - neither was SIGNS though!

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14 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Really not THAT bad!, 15 January 2004
Author: mamamiasweetpeaches from New York,NY

I happened to catch THE STUPIDS on cable once and found myself laughing....and I really tryed NOT to! Yes its silly and stupid, but really its quite an enjoyable mess of silliness. If you are looking for a movie parents can watch with thier kids THE STUPIDS really isnt a bad choice. It may not win Tom Arnold any Oscars, but as far as his movies go this and NINE MONTHS are the best ones.

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6 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Its supposed to be stupid, isn't it?, 10 February 2004
Author: Jared Lautz from New Jersey

Ah yes the story of a family so stupid that they accidentally get involved in a plot of international intrigue and save the world.

First a note to all those bashing this movie: Its supposed to be stupid. This film is good because it's so bad. Thats the whole point. It has some genuinely funny moments and decent acting from Christopher Lee and Jessica Lundy.

Rent this movie and make fun of it with your friends, I think that's what the producers intended.

RELEASE THE DRIVE BEE!

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Good Lloyd, 25 February 2002

Author: Jim Douglas from Howell, MI

I enjoyed watching this movie. Should I apologize for that? No, I don't believe I should. I find Tom Arnold funny. I like watching dumb people do stupid things; it makes me feel better about myself. I actually burst out laughing during several parts of this movie. The car-bomb was the best.

However, I realize that not everyone will like this movie. Most people, in fact, will hate it. So let me sum up what is wrong with this movie.

First off, there is the terrible acting. God-awful. Oh-the-pain, where-did-they-find-that-kid acting. Tom Arnold is not a particularly good actor - he did well in True Lies because Cameron is a good director that understands timing - but Tom Arnold doesn't have much facial expression variety, and he spends most of the movie wearing that same stupid grin plastered on the cover of the video. The kids weren't much better, but I fault the director for that one (I'll get to the direction in a minute).

Secondly, the "clever" script. Now, the first time I watched this, I thought it was clever, too. But after re-watching, I realized that if your characters are incredibly stupid, you can throw motivation out the window. I can imagine the writers - "how can we justify them putting the garbage out every week even though it gets stolen" "Oh, that's easy, they're STUPID!" This movie is full of that. Unbelievably bad choices only made because the characters have no integrity. A movie like this writes itself, because you are freed from the bonds of actual cleverness; characters that do anything allow you to do whatever you want and not have to worry about whether it makes sense. Trust me, if you watch this, you'll see what I mean. The Stupids never do anything that makes sense, which is why it's funny. But an intelligent script, it is not.

Lastly, there is the slipshod direction. This movie is very theatrical. Deep theater roots. Its comedy is awkward, obvious, and drawn out, just like theater comedy. There is no subtlety whatsoever. If you want the movie to be funny, it will be funny. But if you are suspicious, it is certainly not going to win your heart.

And that, in the end, is the problem with the movie; if you don't want to like it, you won't, because it is too easy to dislike. Only see it if you are truly interested and believe that it can be good, because its charm and uniqueness are its good qualities. This is not a movie that disappoints - it is a movie that sits right where you expect it to lie on the quality scale. If you believe it can be good, it will reward you. But if you see it and don't like it, it really is because you didn't want to enjoy it, for whatever reason.

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9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Stupid. Stupidly stupid. I bloody love it, 22 May 2005

Author: Dan Gould (Gwar@freeuk.com) from Wales, UK

Only rent or buy this if you like the sort of humour displayed in movies like Kung Pow and Mr. Bean. This movie is so stupid that even veterans of the slapstick comedy genre will be cringing. Just look at the quotes and you'll have some nice examples of what I mean. "MAN BUSH, you have no equal!" The plot is interesting - Stanley Stupid wakes up one day to discover his garbage stolen again from right outside his own home. Determined to find those responsible, he sets off on a quest to find a man called Sender, who through... crazy and foolish logic, he believes is planning a worldwide conspiracy to steal the world's garbage.

Along the way he uncovers a military weapons distributing operation, which forms most of the opposition in the plot, as they try to kill him repeatedly, and through sheer stupidity and luck, he evades them.

You can't accuse the story of being cliché or unoriginal - not many movies involve meeting God in a planetarium.

The characters are all uniquely stupid, and while their clothes are as unpleasant as fashion can be, they're all very entertaining. Except the daughter, who may annoy more than entertain, but you get those in every movie.

All in all, as long as you're looking for a film with humour so.. STUPID, you'll wet yourself, then you'll probably laugh yourself silly watching this. I first saw it back in 1997 or so, and only managed to find the video last year on ebay. It's a fairly rare video, I think, but I'm hoping it'll come out in Region 2 DVD before long :) Rent/Buy? The humour can be a specialised taste. I'd recommend renting it, but if you can buy it for a reasonable price, I recommend buying it in case you do like it, because it's pretty rare.

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11 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Thank the Lloyd some people get it..., 19 June 2005

Author: iKramerica-1 from Los Angeles

Come on people! Relax. If you rate this movie a 1, you either are trying to hate it or don't have a sense of humor.

It's not high art, but the deadpan acting is spot on, and if you really look at it, the writing in this script is far more complex and well crafted than most "gross out" comedies people seem to applaud.

While other comedies just string together some non-sequeters, this one has a tightly woven throughline, with one line of dialogue or action not only leading to the next, but so integral to the story that if you were to remove a gag or a character, the house of cards would collapse.

It is theater of the absurd and farce at it a high level.

And it is telling that some people who say this is the worst movie ever also say the Kentucky Fried Movie was a "miss" despite that film being the first of it's kind and leading to hundreds of films since that these same people probably loved.

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5 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
vastly underrated, 13 August 1999
Author: Beach

Don't listen to the critics. "The Stupids" is one of my favorite movies, and I've seen close to 800 in the last few years. It's full of scenes that deserve to be classic, like the "I'm My Own Grandpa" musical number, the Stupids' encounter with The Lloyd, and "to be a bush, you've got to think like a bush..." It's worth watching more than once, for sure. It's tragically underappreciated. The plot has Stanley Stupid investigating the conspiracy to steal his garbage and accidentally blunders into an illegal arms deal, while also tracking down the evil Mr. Sender.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
It's funny, 31 March 1999
Author: anonymous from LA

I can't help but admit that the movie is funny. It's still one of the stupidest movies I've ever seen but it's still funny. My favorite scene is when Tom Arnold is trying to hide as a bush and decides to hide as a bush he must think like a bush. He then becomes amazed that he is the first bush in history that can walk and talk. Idiotic? Sure, but it worked.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
This is one funny movie, 16 August 2003
Author: rick-336 from NW Arkansas

What a great time. I've seen this movie several times, and it's still as funny as ever. Lighten up folks. When they meet the Lloyd and go in the time machine, I just bust a gut. I've recommended this movie to others, and think everyone should just relax, put their brains in neutral and dive in. The ending falls apart, but the jokes are plenty. I've discovered one thing about comedies--the more people there are who hate them and think they aren't funny, the better I like them. And most people don't like this movie. That's okay--I'm glad they made it, so I could enjoy it. Still highly recommended.

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Smart Comedy for Stupid People, 28 January 2008

Author: redavi2 from United States

When I first saw this movie I was about 14 years old and nearly died laughing. Ten years later years I still burst my sides from this witty film. Now I'm not big on Tom Arnold as an actor but he definitely makes the perfect Stanley Stupid. Besides from a few cheezy parts like the very poorly computer animated pet dog & cat this movie is pure conspiracy theory comedic genius. There are so many hilarious jokes that somehow move the plot along... 8 wheels beats 4 wheels, 10-1-1 over 9-1-1, the Lloyd, "Man-Bush" come on people! I can't believe anyone could actually consider this one of this worst movies ever made. Go ahead and spend another 5 bucks & purchase the film (buying it new might be cheaper than renting it), get over the PG rating and laugh your @$*%! off at this hilarious comedy!!

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