The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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A Night at the Opera
Comedy · Music · 1935
The Marx Brothers take on high society and the opera world to bring two lovers together. A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.
Movie details
A Night at the Opera
“Don't miss it! The funniest picture ever made!”
1935 Comedy · Music 1h 31m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
7.4 / 10
Community rating
The Marx Brothers take on high society and the opera world to bring two lovers together. A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over A Night at the Opera?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Adam Sandler: 100% Fresh
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A Mighty Wind
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Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
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Ricky Gervais: SuperNature
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With his signature pitch-black sense of humor, Ricky Gervais takes the stage at the London Palladium in this provocative stand-up comedy special.
Bill Burr: You People Are All The Same
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Taking the stage in Washington, D.C., funnyman Bill Burr brings his stinging brand of humor to the spotlight, uncorking a profanity-laced, incisive routine that pokes fun at plastic surgery, reality TV, gold diggers and more.
Carlin at Carnegie
Comedy · 1983
Recorded at Carnegie Hall, New York City in 1982, released in 1983. Most of the material comes from his A Place for My Stuff, the album released earlier that same year. The final performance of "Seven Dirty Words," his last recorded performance of the routine, features Carlin's updated list.
Jimmy Carr: Comedian
Comedy · 2007
Recorded live at London's Bloomsbury theatre, the posh-suited gagster unleashes his rapid-fire wit upon his audience, with jokes that are just too rude for TV.
Eddie Murphy Raw
Comedy · 1987
Eddie Murphy delights, shocks and entertains with dead-on celebrity impersonations, observations on '80s love, sex and marriage, a remembrance of Mom's hamburgers and much more.
Bill Burr: Walk Your Way Out
Comedy · 2017
No-nonsense comic Bill Burr takes the stage in Nashville and riffs on fast food, overpopulation, dictators and gorilla sign language.
Soul Men
Comedy · 2008
Two former backup soul singers, Louis and Floyd, have not spoken to each other in 20 years, and reluctantly agree to travel across the country together to a reunion concert to honor their recently-deceased lead singer. Cleo, a beautiful young woman who is believed to be Floyd's daughter, accompanies them as a new singer.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Sam Wood
Written by
Morrie Ryskind · James Kevin McGuinness · George S. Kaufman
Groucho Marx
Otis B. Driftwood
Chico Marx
Fiorello
Harpo Marx
Tomasso
Kitty Carlisle
Rosa
Allan Jones
Ricardo Barroni
Sig Ruman
Gottlieb
Walter Woolf King
Lassparri
Court is in session
Put A Night at the Opera on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.