An hour of it would probably have been enough.

| Original Score: B- | Sep 2, 2022

The Original Kings of Comedy is a bracing rush of laughter -- laughter at our differences, laughter at our anger, laughter at our common absurdities, laughter that brings us all closer together. These guys are royally funny.

| Aug 7, 2019

[Spike Lee] knows the show belongs to his comedians, so he aids and abets from the shadows like the best of accomplices. The result is the Stop Making Sense of stand-up comedy movies

| Aug 7, 2019

Ostensibly a shot performance of a comedians Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Bernie Mac and Cedric The Entertainer, the film is not only genuinely funny, but also very much a cultural touchstone.

| Original Score: A- | Aug 7, 2019

I laughed until I cried.

| Aug 7, 2019

Their comic material is all cut from much the same cloth and lacks variety: their viewpoint is middle-aged; their "attitude" is strenuously confrontational.

| Aug 7, 2019

[The Original Kings of Comedy] is a fresh, intimate, gloriously unpolished performance film that measures up to the classics of the genre: Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip and the notorious Eddie Murphy Raw.

| Aug 7, 2019

There are some good gags and routines here, but loads of them have been done with far more invention and wit by Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy.

| Aug 7, 2019

Sorry, but the king has long been crowned -- these funny men are merely pretenders.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 7, 2019

Sometimes they're truly hilarious; sometimes they're lazy enough to milk laughs from scattershot vulgarity; and sometimes they try to pummel the audience into submission with humor...

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 7, 2019

Like their predecessors, [Steve] Harvey, [D.L.] Hughley and Cedric [The Entertainer] transcend their immediate audience and create flashes of recognition that will hit home with nearly anyone.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 7, 2019

There are few British comics who can stand up to these stand-ups when it comes to outrageous comments on real life; with this film, Lee gives them a well-deserved global audience at last.

| Aug 7, 2019

All four stick to observational humor, much of it revolving around racial differences. A lot of this is funny, but it never gets as wrenchingly deep or dark as Richard Pryor's routines in his classic concert films.

| Aug 7, 2019

[The Original Kings of Comedy] may be a little edgy, and sometimes even a little embarrassing. But it tells it like it is, and there's something damn refreshing about that.

| Aug 7, 2019

As a testament to the vitality of black comedy, The Original Kings Of Comedy is a success. As a comedy, however, it's sluggishly paced and not nearly funny enough to justify its two-hour running time.

| Aug 7, 2019

The Original Kings of Comedy doesn't have the theatrical subtext or, let it be said, the genius of Richard Pryor. But then again Pryor went out for an hour or 90 minutes and just talked. These guys are working in a revue format.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 7, 2019

Footage shot from over their shoulders reveals a sea of faces out of which individuals quickly emerge, as the comedians -- especially emcee Harvey -- enthrall and provoke audience members.

| Sep 23, 2008

Some segments are marred by poor sound quality. Others produce monster laughs.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 7, 2008

A consistently hilarious assemblage of highlights from the hit concert tour of the same name.

| Jun 6, 2008

Easily the funniest movie of the summer.

| Original Score: B+ | Jul 24, 2006