best movie i've ever seen.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Sarah Silverman gets jealous of her friends (Brian Posehn, Laura Silverman) and claims to have a show. In the show, she imagines she has a child with her Christian boyfriend and teaching the kid that she's part of the chosen people while daddy thinks "Jesus is Magic". That is the start of a standup intercut with taped skits. She takes on controversial subjects with offensive takes.I love Sarah Silverman and her weird outrageous TV show. The standup has her trademark cute girl dead-pan delivery of offensive material. It isn't quite as funny to me as standup. I think the material is funnier if there is a target who is shocked by it. It's funnier if somebody is there to take offense although the skits aren't big laughs either.

Sarah Silverman--with her gummy smile, coltish stance, and clear voice which bubbles up from deep within her chest--wants to come on like a huggable shock comedienne, yet she's more performance artist than stand-up personality. Cleverly and carefully (one may say 'precisely') dropping taboo words into her stories, Silverman gets laughs by pretending to lead the audience in one direction and then undercutting those expectations with a surprising low-keyed zinger. Silverman doesn't overwork a punchline--which are often nestled in the context of her stories anyhow--although she returns to older topics too often. Also, she relies far too much on pseudo-cute facial expressions and aw-shucks body language to soften the blows of her words, though the topics (9/11, the Holocaust, AIDS, vaginal sex versus anal sex) are tiptoed through in a facetious yet frisky manner. The fantasy edits, imagining Sarah in different manners of celebrity, work well, better than the purposefully-wooden prologue and epilogue with friends. Still, one expects to laugh more with such touchy material. Silverman is so laid-back and blasé, it's clear to viewers she is giving them a made-up creation. Other shock comics manage to make audiences feel as if they are hearing something true, but this personality that Silverman is displaying (playful, naughty, grounded, unaffected) is unabashedly artificial. This is entirely deliberate on Silverman's part, yet is tends to render her act phony: smoke and mirrors prodding at the national funny bone. *1/2 from ****

I've seen Sarah Silverman in plenty of films and TV appearances, but this is my first time seeing her stand-up act in its entirety. Altogether, I enjoyed the film. I'm sure this won't appeal to all tastes, especially if you're easily offended. I wouldn't say Sarah is nearly as good as George Carlin or Richard Pryor or other classic envelope-pushing comedians, but she is good and definitely has a unique comic style (not something I say about many comedians nowadays). I like the way she delivers her profane, offensive humor in such a mundane fashion. I think it makes the jokes even funnier. The flaw in her comedy, in my opinion, is that despite her significant intelligence and wit, Sarah does have a silly, absurd side. Some of the musical numbers definitely bordered on the silly side. Altogether, the film is hit-or-miss, thankfully with more hits. And of course, Sarah is quite easy on the eyes, which is part of the fun of seeing her in a starring role.

Before I heard her I knew she must be doing something right because I heard people were offended by her, particularly by the title of the film "Jesus is Magic". At the first quick glance I thought it was a serious title because all the evangelical Christians I've heard and met believe that to be the case. Once I quickly realized it was a satirical joke I read some reviews. Natuarally, a lot of people were offended. Well it doesn't really take much to offend religious people, especially the orthodox, because anything that remotely approaches the truth and/or reason, contradicting and threatening the shaky foundation of their illogical and poorly constructed fictitious beliefs enrages them and causes the most hateful, violent reactions. The vast bulk of the wars and offenses committed on other peoples is based on or at least justified by religious beliefs, frequently just the persecution of those with contradicting religious beliefs. (Of course it's usually just based on the greed and power lust of the leaders but they play the religious card because they know that opium stirs the too frequently intentionally ignorant masses.) And since evangelical Christians are getting more and more power in the US and closer to fulfilling their dream of a Christian Taliban I became intrigued and gave the film a viewing. (Fortunately, the completely religious state does not exist yet so Ms. Silverman can make these films and others can watch them without fear of persecution and prosecution but give some time to some of the evangelical federal judges George W. has installed to start "reinterpreting" the laws to see if that doesn't start changing soon.)It's an entertaining film. Not brilliant but humorous and entertaining. She doesn't have the intellectual appeal of someone like George Carlin or even Bill Hicks nor the great depth of Lenny Bruce but she does have a nice act and fulfills the role of what adult comedy really should be, telling the truth in a fashion that people will hear it, that otherwise don't want to be bothered with anything "negative" (i.e: preferring the BS over reality). Of course, since she is telling the truth in a fashion, often with her character of a typically ignorant, arrogant woman who uses being cute as her veneer to gloss over her shortcomings, she is offending people who hate to admit their own shortcomings mirror what she is doing or saying. And, especially now in these tenuous times of a dangerous swing toward fundamentalism, we need those who poke fun at a humorless, intolerant group who insist on imposing their beliefs onto others. And before anyone starts flying off the handle claiming I'm anti-Christian, don't worry, I find all fundamental religious practices and other forms of orthodoxy equally destructive and dangerous, especially to the rare, disappearing freedoms left in the US and elsewhere. This may not be a fantastic film but it is a necessary one as it gives some hope to believers in individual intellectual pursuits that our disappearing freedoms aren't completely gone yet and still may have a chance to survive their recent assault. So we can continue things like the pursuit of legitimate scientific inquiry, which is always outlawed in religious states as facts contradict "faith": one only need look at the many, many years of meticulous research by some of the most brilliant minds being trashed in favor of "faith based" education to realize the horrifying dangers taking place right now. I hope more people get angry at this film and it starts to wake up the opposition who have been laying down to the will of someone with some crackpot belief in fear that they might offend someone's "faith". We need more people like Sarah Silverman who say "offensive" things about religious faith and other sacred subjects. Good job, Sarah, keep it up!