Life Stinks

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Life Stinks

PG-13

1991

1h 35m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

25%

Tomatometer

20 Reviews

45%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Affluent and arrogant businessman Goddard Bolt (Mel Brooks), feuding with rival Vance Crasswell (Jeffrey Tambor) over a land deal, makes a bet with Crasswell that he has the wits and street smarts to live penniless and anonymous on the rough streets of Los Angeles for 30 days. But Bolt has a rude awakening when the reality of homelessness hits him. Still, he finds a silver lining in a burgeoning romance with Molly (Lesley Ann Warren), a former Broadway dancer who has fallen on hard times.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

May 24, 2022

2/4

It’s materialist comedy in the best sense of the word, and when it leads to slapstick involving Thorazine in an overcrowded hospital, Brooks truly hits his stride.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Jan 1, 2000

3/4

It may take more skill and intelligence to live without money than to make and spend a great deal of it, and that is the buried message of Life Stinks, a warmhearted new comedy from Mel Brooks.

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Jul 21, 2024

7/10

It’s difficult to dismiss the simplicity and sweetness of the ludicrously rich discovering a new perspective on impoverishment - no matter how unlikely and caricaturized it is here.

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Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Jan 4, 2023

Supposedly a comedy about humiliation and misery, presented with almost sadistic insensibility. [Full review in Spanish]

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Harriet Waugh

The Spectator

Jul 19, 2018

Lurches from a shocking reality into sentimentality and then to a finale in which it only takes a fairy Goddard to wave his lovely dollar wand and all the derelicts and poor of Los Angeles can live happily ever after in low-cost housing.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Aug 8, 2015

1.5/4

[UPDATED 2025 BLU-RAY REVIEW] Even comic geniuses are allowed an off day -- or off movie, as the case may be -- and Mel Brooks strikes out with this sizable flop.

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Hori G

@corn29 Feb 27, 2026

It's honestly annoying how, when I watch a good, funny comedy or any movie, and I check Rotten Tomatoes, it has such a bad rating. Rotten Tomatoes is kinda bs, and im here to say that. Random emotional movies that are mostly just people crying and boring shit get like 94 % rating, whilst this is a 20 and it's pretty good- deserves around a 70 Anyways its a funny movie, but the ending's a little boring

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David C.

@Mondo69 Feb 7, 2026

This movie stinks. Unfunny schmaltz.

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Julian S

@akajulianscott Jan 20, 2025

Devoted fans of Brooks’ bolder screwball comedies may feel a tad disappointed, but LIFE STINKS retains a distinct and memorable charm.

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FreemBeem T

@RT62386783 Jan 20, 2025

While a large part of me really wants to recommend this movie, the other, more thoughtful half, absolutely cannot. The first few minutes are actually pretty enjoyable, as most movies should be, but once you get into the first half, you realize that there's a whole hour left. I found myself sitting silently watching this instead of laughing aloud at every joke like I expected. Definitely not a fun watch.

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Julian B

@Spursy153 Dec 24, 2024

This film is still as good as it was when I saw it as kid over 25yrs ago.

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Rick T

@RT31749655 Nov 21, 2024

Funny with a happy ending, and you can't beat that!

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Mel Brooks

Director

Mel Brooks

Goddard Bolt

Lesley Ann Warren

Molly

Jeffrey Tambor

Vance Crasswell

Stuart Pankin

Pritchard

Howard Morris

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Synopsis

Affluent and arrogant businessman Goddard Bolt (Mel Brooks), feuding with rival Vance Crasswell (Jeffrey Tambor) over a land deal, makes a bet with Crasswell that he has the wits and street smarts to live penniless and anonymous on the rough streets of Los Angeles for 30 days. But Bolt has a rude awakening when the reality of homelessness hits him. Still, he finds a silver lining in a burgeoning romance with Molly (Lesley Ann Warren), a former Broadway dancer who has fallen on hard times.

Director: Mel Brooks
Producer: Mel Brooks
Screenwriter: Mel Brooks, Rudy De Luca, Steve Haberman
Production Co: Brooksfilms
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 16, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.8M
Runtime: 1h 35m
Sound Mix: Surround

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