User reviews

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.

This is probably the only film I've seen where the IMDb reviews on both sides of the spectrum are 100% accurate. "The Stupids" is an atrocious, dim-witted film with absolutely no artistic merit whatsoever, and is a denigration to a director like John Landis. And that's what makes it great.

In order to appreciate "The Stupids", you have to keep in mind a little-known, but very true maxim spoken by director Abo Kyrou: "I urge you to learn to look at bad films, they are so often sublime." In order for any film to work, the film must establish and follow it's own logic, and if it does so convincingly and sincerely, then it's actually possible for the film to work. For example, when you watch "Freddy Got Fingered" as a traditional gross-out comedy, it's complete and utter garbage; when you watch it with the understanding that it's actually a neo-surrealist comedy, it's brilliant.

It works with good movies too. If "Jaws" hadn't accepted the reality it created, the air-tank explosion ending wouldn't have worked. But, a lot of people think "Jaws" is vastly overrated for this type of reason, and they aren't wrong. But it has it's strengths, doesn't it? The point being that a movie like this makes sense if you look at it with the right perspective. Some people, like me, get it right away, while others never will no matter how often it's explained. Jim Jarmusch made a compelling defense of "Showgirls" once, and even afterwards I still can't see it from his P.O.V. Doesn't mean he's wrong though. If you have the right frame of mind when you watch this movie (and NO I DO NOT MEAN STONED, I'm gonna put that to bed right now), you can actually enjoy the movie for the dumb, cheap, pointless slapstick late-80s/early-90s-style farce that it is.

The defenders and haters of this film are right: It's STUPID, and that's the point. The movie accepts the stupidity of the characters much in the same way "The Jerk" accepted Navin Johnson's idiocy. And because it takes that and runs with it, the movie focuses exclusively on using that to forward the plot and to define the characters. A "bad" movie would actually do this and fail to use that logic properly; bad movie are bad because they make it up as they go along, whereas movies like "The Stupids" knows where it's going, what it's doing and why from the beginning.

I can't defend the film from an artistic standpoint, which is why I give it such a low rating. The acting is mostly bad, the jokes very superficial, and the live-action quality probably ruins what would have worked as a cartoon. But I can't deny that it IS entertaining in its own way, and that's why I defend it. I got it right away, and I pity those who don't.

I'll admit I was drawn to this movie because of Christopher Lee's delicious cameo appearance (hearing him say "Release the drive bee!" would have been worth the rental price even if I hated this film), but was amazed to find that, aside from the TV Studio Applause Sign segment with Jenny McCarthy, I was never bored, and never disappointed. In fact, many of the jokes, because of their cartoonish context, were hilarious (in particular the airbag-cigarette explosion). They were dumb, but they were funny. And the movie doesn't pretend to be anything else: a STUPID comedy about STUPID characters and instead of apologizing for it, it enjoys itself.

And that's exactly why it works.

This is a stupid movie. When I saw it in a movie theater more than half the audience left before it was half over. I stayed to the bitter end. To show fortitude? I caught it again on television and it was much funnier. Still by no means a classic, or even consistently hilarious but the family kinda grew on me. I love Jessica Lundy anyway. If you've nothing better to do and it's free on t.v. you could do worse.

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!

I vaguely remember this film. I do remember it for the one solid reason that it is the only film that I have ever walked out on!! and since then I have never seen it available to rent ANYWHERE!! I can't spoil it for anyone cos I can barely remember it!! To think, looking at the cast, it seemed a winner, with John Landis directing, but good god, they must have been paid a whole lot for this drivel!! All I can seem to recall is that the dad goes missing and the family try to search for him, by trying to put an actual photograph into the disc drive of a computer. I walked out after about half an hour of this. I must confess though, I'd love to see if I can get a copy, just to see if it really was that bad!!

It wouldn't surprise me if this was on every actor's black list! I mean Christopher Lee was in this?? The legend of all bad guys, who'd been in Star Wars and Lord of the Rings?? As I said - black listed movie, The Stupids!

I took my son to see this with every intention of watching a completely goofy movie since we love other titles such as The Jerk, Airplane, etc. However, we couldn't sit through more than ten minutes before getting up and leaving the theater, fore-fitting our admission cost and all. It was just TOO stupid, so stupid that my brain was starting to hurt. So, despite the fact that 10 minutes isn't enough to give it a fair assessment, I think leaving a moving after only 10 minutes is a testimony of its own. I may see if I can find this on Netflix to see if my 15 year old memories of it are still accurate. And it may be worth the time to get some Mystery Science Theater style entertainment out of this train-wreck.

I couldn't even sit through the whole thing! This movie was a piece of crap! I had more fun watching "Dont' Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead"! It was just too painful to watch. Say, besides "Austin Powers", has Tom Arnold ever been in a hit movie?

This is beyond a shadow of a doubt the absolute worst movie I have ever seen. It's been a long time since I've seen it, but the jokes are NOT funny, the plot is painfully forseeable, calling the main characters stupid is to vastly upgrade their intelligence...uggh! I just wanted to punch Tom Arnold and make him cry because he wasted two hours of my life when I was done watching this piece of cinematic filth. I don't even know why I ever wanted to watch it, but remember if you see this movie: DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.

PS Tom Arnold's character sings a song in this movie called "I'm My Own Grandfather." Nuff said.

Okay folks, turn your brains off, watch this film with ZERO expectations, and perhaps you'll enjoy it like I did. Like the title suggests, the humor here is stupid. So what? That does not mean that this is a stupid movie. In fact, I'd say that it is actually rather clever. It takes good writers to make watching stupidity an enjoyable experience, and there's no way around it, this movie was fun. To be sure, this film is fluff in the extreme, but the title doesn't exactly suggest a thought-provoking epic of a picture. It's simply brainless entertainment, and one of my guilty pleasures.

I only saw 45 minutes of this .... film?

I cannot believe the people behind it. It is so bad and awful, that somebody MUST have seen: this is not going to work.

Every - and I mean every joke - is so, so obvious that you can see them coming a mile away. They are not funny at all. At best I will agree to call them embarrassing.

If you consider to rent this... film? Please don't.

Rating: 1 of 10.

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.

Within only the first five minutes the movie shows an odd dichotomy, being filled with some jokes and gags that are unremittingly silly but clever and fun, and others that are so forced and contrived that the very inclusion feels like the movie is talking down to even the youngest of kids in the audience. This will continue to be true in the next five minutes, and the five minutes to follow that, and so on down the line for the better part of ninety-odd minutes. This same dichotomy applies to the dialogue and scene writing, the acting and direction, the plot development, and every small detail that feeds into the storytelling and humor. I remember very well seeing 'The Stupids' advertised when it was first released, just as surely as I recall hearing nothing about it at any time thereafter - brought into the world, and quickly forgotten. Within only the first five minutes, I begin to understand why. Ultimately this is actually solidly enjoyable, but the viewing experience is at times either easily amusing, or laborious, and the sum total certainly suffers for the fact of it.

For what it's worth, this is well made. Even at their most garish the production design and art direction, costume design, and hair and makeup range from imaginative, to lovely, to just plain splendid. There are some very recognizable names and faces in the cast, even if only in cameos, and everyone happily leans into the absurdity with all the earnestness they can muster. Starring as the titular family, of course Jessica Lundy, Alex McKenna, Bug Hall, and above all Tom Arnold get the most time on-screen, and it sure seems like they're having a good time with the ridiculousness. Given a small supporting part, Frankie Faison threatens to outshine everyone else involved. Any stunts and effects that are employed are actually very well done - almost downright impressive, and maybe the best part of the picture, or at least the most consistent. Christopher Stone's score quite seems to borrow at times from many other well-known themes and composers, but it's most assuredly smart and entertaining in its own right.

Despite the unmistakable unevenness, there's some genuine wit and intelligence in Brent Forrester's screenplay. This includes not least some quips about the police, and Jenny McCarthy, that have frankly gotten better, more cheeky, and more underhandedly shrewd with age in the past 27 years. A pair of scenes at almost exactly the halfway mark are kind of brilliant, and illustrate that as much as the title may waver back and forth in various ways, it's all perfectly deliberate, for better or worse. Some moments elicit a tired sigh, but no few others earned real laughs. It's absolute nonsense, sometimes overbearingly so, yet I'd be lying if I said this weren't fun at its best. As a matter of fact, all the best efforts of the cast and crew alike bear considerable fruit in the second half and especially the last act, becoming much sharper and more funny than I'd have ever supposed sights unseen, or even when the feature began.

This is a film that's definitely less than perfect in its blend of adventure and comedy. Large portions of the early scenes aim for stridently cheap bits that are far too weak to make the grade, coming off as plainly artificial, and we get glimpses of these later on, too. Some inclusions are just too over the top for their own good. Still, between all the hard work behind the scenes, unexpectedly bright writing, unreservedly wholehearted embrace of the tomfoolery by the actors, and the reliable direction of John Landis, the end result is a lot more worthwhile than I'd have ever believed without seeing it for myself. I understand why this was received so poorly in the first place; there's a level of false ham-handedness pervading the proceedings that's a lot to sit through as a viewer of any age, and where the jokes fall flat, they REALLY fall flat. I'm happy to say this notably better and more entertaining than it seems from the outset, however. It's nothing one needs to go out of their way to see, but to come across it, this is surprisingly worthwhile. 'The Stupids' may not be a must-see classic, but when all is said and done it's a fairly enjoyable romp, and sometimes that's good enough.

A few years back, me and a friend of mine decided to have a 'worst movies ever'-themed movie night, and went to our local video rental place, determined to find the three worst movies they had. We quickly found 'Stjerner uden hjerner' (widely recognized (and rightly so (IMDB bottom 100: #33)) as the worst danish movie ever (rivaled perhaps by 'Reptilicus')) and 'Beavis and Butt-head do America' (which I found hilarious - perhaps even more so after watching these two stinkers), but we couldn't find a third movie, that matched our criteria, so we asked the clerk for advice. She "recommended" 'The Stupids', as the worst movie she had ever seen, so we decided to go for it... And we certainly got what we asked for.

This movie is without a doubt the worst movie I have ever wasted my time watching. It is supposed to be a comedy, but is not funny when it intends to be, and even worse - it is not even involuntarily funny. Compared to this 'Wild Wild West' is an epic masterpiece. How anyone could have rated this at anything but a '1' is a mystery to me...

In short: Stay clear of this at all costs!

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.

Okay, in the first place, Tom Arnold is not funny. Ever. He's not funny. Got it? Secondly, Tom Arnold is not funny. Did I fail to mention the lack of funniness that is Tom Arnold? Now, the last movie I shut off before its conclusion was Robin Willams' "Toys" (also not funny). This movie, however, is somehow unfunnier than "Toys," or "Apocalypse Now," or "Platoon." It's anti-funny. I was actually in a less happy mood when it was over. Not because I wasted my time, but because it was simply so unfunny. You know what the opposite of funny is? "The Stupids." Now, it's not the worst movie ever, not by a long shot, but one could say that it is not funny. In any point. During any scene. Even conceptually? Not funny.

This is the worst movie ever, it's not even bad in a funny way, just plain bad. Don't even think about watching it! The plot: The Stupids (it's their family name) were stolen of their precious garbage, and Tom Arnold decides to follow the Garbage Truck to it's HQ, which surprisingly turned out to be the city dump. The family father working as a mailman also suspects that Mr Sender is the evil mind behind this, just like he's been steeling letters for years ("Return to Sender"). In Dumb & Dumber and Beavis and Butthead do America and practically all Steve Martin movies some morons solve terrorist (or similar) conflicts by acting like true idiots. I'm not a major fan of this kind of movies (though I like Beavis & Butthead do America). And this one is the worst ever.

If you don't like Mr Magoo, Dumb & Dumber etc you certainly won't like this one, and if you like them you probably won't either. It might be something for your kids if you want to keep them from developing some intelligence. Unless, stay away from it! 1/10

I've never seen a turder film in my life, this was absolute ploparama! Tom Arnold has one of the most punchable faces on the planet, and it's not just him u actually fell like slapping his whole family. The stupidity of the family is unbelievable and the computer-animated aliens at the end take the biscuit. I would love to own a copy of this film so I can lend it to people and share my hatred for the film. I also do not know a film that I would get more enjoyment out of running over, especially with that fat Wilfreds face on the front of the box. If you haven't seen this, I highly don't recommend watching it. It will leave u depressed and irritated. It's funny but not ha ha funny.

Crap for all the family

What can i say other than this movie was so bad it made me feel physically ill. I mean i know the movie is supposed to be stupid and is about stupid people but there should be a limit to the amount of bad puns that can be crammed into one movie.

Seriously, this movie is full of incredibly unfunny jokes that makes this one "stupid" movie (the movie is worse than that pun right there). Yes it is horrible, don't watch it, don't waste any money on it. The only people that could find this humorous are 5 year old children, in no way should this be funny to anyone who's age is above that. It IS the worst movie ever produced. The movie is not witty, it's jokes are... ugh, actually no, they aren't jokes, in fact, I don't know what they are. I just don't have the words to describe how terrible this movie is. Once again, I will reiterate: Don't watch it and don't waste money on it.

I remember this movie was so stupid 20 years ago. But I rewatched it and there are multiple hilarious scenes, like the sentient bush scene. Honestly I don't remember why I thought it was so stupid (having stupid in the title wasn't doing it any favors!) when 20 years later I still remember some of the jokes, there are few movies I even remember the plot line from 20 years ago! This isn't a movie so much as it is a 2 hour long SNL skit with an absurd premise.

Pathetic attempt to imitate the likes of Inspector Clusseau, Curley (3 Stooges), and Agent Maxwell Smart. These classic slapstick characters bumbled their ways into our hearts with expert comedic timing. Tom Arnold just bumbles aimlessly through this movie devoid of laughs. Stanley Stupid (Arnold), patriarch of the Stupid family, suspects there's an evil scheme to steal garbage, and he's suspicious of "Return to Sender" mail. Are you rolling on the floor weak with laughter yet?

Me neither.

Overdone stereotypes, feeble attempts to strain humor from gags that don't work, poorly executed slapstick, a script that laughs at its own jokes while nobody else does, an immaterial story that's nothing more than a vehicle for one banal scene after another, gratuitously violent events that are tossed out at you as humor; the list goes on. I always thought the song "I'm my own Grandpa" was clever--Arnold just makes it annoying. Few movies are more excruciatingly painful to endure than failed and unfunny comedies: this is one of these.

If somebody was stealing garbage, why didn't they steal this?

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!!

No, this movie is not artistic in any way whatsoever. No, the humor isn't all that clever. This movie is just silly, but that was what it was supposed to be in the first place.

The basic value of a movie with characters that are completely clueless as to how the world works is that they can create unrealistic situations that are hilarious. Nobody would see a huge red switch, think it was a light switch, realize it doesn't turn on the lights, and keep trying it over and over again, accidentally turning on the "applause" light at a TV studio, but it's very funny to see the reaction of the stereotypical blond actress and the talk show host when the audience claps at inopportune moments. Furthermore, the imagined scene with Christopher Lee as Sender is simply brilliant. To see such a great villainous actor, star from the old Hammer films all the way up to Lord of the Rings, act so seriously as the sinister man plotting to steal the world's garbage is simply hilarious.

Yes, very many of the scenes are weak, but they aren't so bad if you remember not to take this film seriously at all.

I cannot believe that the film is getting lots of positive reviews on this site!!!! This film should'be been aborted!!!! This film is such an abomination!!!!! Literally the worst film! The acting itself was a complete disaster!! This film is not funny at all!!!! I feel as if 1/10 is a bit too much for this film. I do not understand how people could stomach through this garbage. I'd rather sit through traffic than to have to watch that horrible film again. At least then I wouldn't have to listen to Tom Arnold's career plummet through the toilet. The Stupids was a major box office failure, grossing just $2,491,989 from an estimated $25 million budget.