45
Metascore
21 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyThe Distinguished Gentleman is an easy, breezy romp of a movie, a low comedy of highly entertaining order.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterRay BennettThe Hollywood ReporterRay BennettMurphy's comic brilliance is at the service of the story and he positively shines with a number of diverse and zany impersonations, most enjoyably a Jesse Jackson takeoff.
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe Distinguished Gentleman prefers to give us measured laughs at a leisurely pace, and then it settles for the sellout upbeat ending. Ho hum.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittEddie Murphy does his patented routines effectively, and the dialogue has some pungent moments, but the movie doesn't succeed as the "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" update it would like to be.
- 50Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanAll The Distinguished Gentleman has is Eddie Murphy doing his best to be the life of the party. By the end of the movie you wish he would just go to another party.
- 50TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineThere's just not enough good material, however, to sustain the comic pace.
- 50VarietyBrian LowryVarietyBrian LowryUneven but occasionally quite funny political satire.
- 40Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumThe filmmakers treat all the characters, not to mention the audience, as sitcom puppets.
- 40EmpireKim NewmanEmpireKim NewmanMurphy occasionally does uninterrupted seconds of shtick, but the film is stuffed with cheap sentiment (a kid with cancer), extraneous characters and embarrassing simplistic politics.
- 20Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovAustin ChronicleMarc SavlovUnfortunately, the film rests heavily on the shoulders of Murphy, who seems to wander aimlessly from scene to scene, searching for a laugh. The joke's on him, though: There are none.