''Tickling Giants'' is a 2017 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by Sara Taksler, about the story of

Bassem Youssef Bassem Raafat Mohamed Youssef (born 22 March 1974) is an Egyptian-American comedian, television host, and former surgeon. Beginning his career with ''The B+ Show'' (2011), which was inspired by his experiences during the 2011 Egyptian Revolutio ...

, who, in the midst of the

2011 Egyptian revolution The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January Revolution (;), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police holiday" as a statement against ...

, left his job as a heart surgeon to become a full-time comedian. Dubbed "The Egyptian

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz, November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, writer, producer, director, political commentator, actor, and television host. The long-running host of ''The Daily Show'' on Comedy Central from 1999 to 20 ...

," Bassem creates the satirical show ''

Al Bernameg ''Al-Bernameg'' (, known in Egypt as ''El Bernameg'', pronunciation: lberˈnæːmeɡ literally "The Show") was a controversial Egyptian news satire program. The show was hosted by Bassem Youssef and was broadcast on the satellite channels Ca ...

''. ''Tickling Giants'' follows the team of ''Al Bernameg'' as they endure physical threats, protests, and legal action as a result of the show.

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has a 100% approval rating based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's consensus reads, "''Tickling Giants'' offers a powerful demonstration of how satire can influence government policy – and a sobering warning regarding the double-edged effects of regime change." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a score of 78 out of 100 based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...

of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote, "Mostly, the movie makes you understand how every society – and ours more than ever – needs people like Bassem Youssef to demonstrate that laughter will always be one of the essential ways to keep power in check."

References

External links

* * 2017 documentary films 2017 films American documentary films Documentary films about the Arab Spring Films shot in Egypt Films shot in London Films shot in New York City Documentary films about comedy and comedians 2010s American films {{bio-documentary-film-stub

Reception

See also

References

External links