The Great Buck Howard

Play trailer

The Great Buck Howard

PG

2009

1h 30m

Comedy

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

70%

Tomatometer

94 Reviews

49%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Defying his father and dropping out of law school, aspiring writer Troy Gable looks for a way to gain some meaningful life experience. Troy gets that and more when he takes a job with Buck Howard, a vainglorious mentalist who hopes to reinvigorate his fading career by staging a big comeback.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

By turns fluffy and biting, this show biz comedy is given girth by comic heavyweight John Malkovich and made all the more charming by Emily Blunt.

Read Critics Reviews

Leo Goldsmith

IndieWire

Aug 8, 2009

Malkovich's titular mentalist is the primary focus of attention%u2014and sadly the source of many of the film's unique problems. In a career of strange performances, Malkovich turns in a true curiosity here%u2014and maybe it's because he is not, for once,

Go to Full Review

Jonathan F. Richards

Film.com

Apr 9, 2009

This is not a rare movie, but it does have a warm red center. It's likable, and its appeal grows as it recovers from a shaky start and finds its footing.

Go to Full Review

Amy Biancolli

Houston Chronicle

Apr 3, 2009

3/4

A modest snapshot of a performer.

Go to Full Review

Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

Jul 20, 2024

3/4

Produced by Tom Hanks's Playtone banner, The Great Buck Howard follows the rise, fall, and rise template of many Hanks productions (see Starter for Ten and his own That Thing You Do!), but [Sean] McGinly handles a large cast with ease.

Go to Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Dec 2, 2023

2.5/4

The film’s light comedy is very light, inspiring chuckles right through without ever making us weep for the characters or bust a gut from laughter.

Go to Full Review

Felicia Feaster

Charleston City Paper

Jan 27, 2020

The Great Buck Howard has a pleasantly rueful approach. Instead of the scatological humor in raucous bromances like I Love You, Man, The Great Buck Howard offers a more low-key thoughtfulness about how success is defined.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Teddy S

@Teddy_S Aug 30, 2026

A warm, amusing, gentle film. Didn't expect to like it as much as I did. It won't blow your socks off but I found it very endearing. Malkovich's performance is nice and there's a bunch of fun cameos.

See more

Laurance M

@RT95298844 Jul 24, 2026

How could you not like this movie? Movies are supposed to be entertaining and this one is. And it's offbeat and full of surprise star cameos. If you want to look for deep meanings and life lessons sure you will find that as well. But the John Malkovich performance alone holds it all together and makes it a sure enjoyable watch.

See more

David S.

@dstreusand Apr 5, 2026

Malkovich was great! Good movie about the entertainment business and the struggle to be successful.

See more

Steve D

@RT35616104 Oct 7, 2023

The cast is all it has.

See more

Gareth v

@geewah Jun 21, 2023

Feel good dramedy that is carried by the performance of Malkovich and the underrated Blunt.

See more

Jan 8, 2022

Truly one of the most pointless and boring films I've ever seen. I've seen more pointless, and I've seen more boring but this one propels further away from entertaining or compelling than most films I've seen. It relies almost entirely on sappy sentimentalism, which in itself isn't very profound, unique, or lasting. It also seems a bit disingenuous. It's the kind of sentimentality you see from high ranking officials mourning a dead comrade in old Soviet times when you know damn well they had the person killed to begin with and never liked the person.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Sean McGinly

Director

John Malkovich

Buck Howard

Colin Hanks

Troy Gable

Emily Blunt

Valerie Brennan

Steve Zahn

Kenny

Tom Hanks

Mr. Gable

The Great Buck Howard: Official Clip - It's Over

1:47

Now Playing

The Great Buck Howard: Official Clip - Buck's Quirks

2:29

Now Playing

The Great Buck Howard: Official Clip - You Do Know Who I Am, Don't You?

2:10

Now Playing

The Great Buck Howard: Official Clip - I Thought He Was In Law School

2:04

Now Playing

The Great Buck Howard: Official Clip - The Hidden Money Trick

2:12

Now Playing

The Great Buck Howard: Official Clip - Drop the Coin

1:50

Now Playing

The Great Buck Howard: Official Clip - Buck is Hip Now

2:28

Now Playing

The Great Buck Howard: Official Clip - How About Entertainment Law?

1:50

Now Playing

The Great Buck Howard: Official Clip - Mass-Hypnosis

2:09

Now Playing

The Great Buck Howard: Official Clip - Jay Leno is Satan

1:29

Now Playing

View more videos

The Longshots

41%

61%

The Longshots

Watchlist

Dean Spanley

88%

81%

Dean Spanley

Watchlist

Marley & Me

64%

75%

Marley & Me

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Marley & Me

Henry Poole Is Here

39%

52%

Henry Poole Is Here

Watchlist

Secondhand Lions

60%

84%

Secondhand Lions

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

Defying his father and dropping out of law school, aspiring writer Troy Gable looks for a way to gain some meaningful life experience. Troy gets that and more when he takes a job with Buck Howard, a vainglorious mentalist who hopes to reinvigorate his fading career by staging a big comeback.

Director: Sean McGinly
Producer: Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman
Screenwriter: Sean McGinly
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Playtone Productions
Rating: PG (Suggestive Remarks|Some Language|A Drug Reference)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 20, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 22, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $748.4K
Runtime: 1h 30m

Join The Newsletter

Join The Newsletter

Cookie Settings