Mad as Hell

Mad as Hell
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Andrew Napier
Produced by Hal Duncan
Eric Ekman
Andrew Napier
Written by Andrew Napier
Starring Cenk Uygur
Ana Kasparian
Ben Mankiewicz
John Iadarola
Music by Ronen Landa
Cinematography Daniel Katz
Andrew Napier
Edited by Eric Ekman
Andrew Napier
Production
company
Wrecking Crew
Distributed by Oscilloscope
Release date
 November 6, 2014 (theatrical release)
April 7, 2015 (DVD)
Running time
 82 minutes
Country United States
Language English

Mad as Hell is a 2014 documentary film about the web series The Young Turks and its host, Cenk Uygur. The film's title refers to a famous line uttered by the character Howard Beale in the 1976 film Network, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"[1]

Synopsis

The film details how Cenk Uygur created the successful web series The Young Turks. The film also chronicles Uygur's time as a potential host at MSNBC before his departure on June 2011, citing conflicting views between Uygur and MSNBC executives.[2]

Cast

Production

The film was funded via Indiegogo. It raised $69,423, which was 116% of its $60,000 goal.[3]

Release

It was released theatrically in the USA on November 6, 2014 and on DVD on April 7, 2015.[4]

Reception

It has received mostly mixed reviews from critics, and has a score of 52% on Metacritic[5] and 30% on Rotten Tomatoes.[6]

Writing for RogerEbert.com, Godfrey Cheshire awarded it a score of 3 out of four stars, saying that Uygur's "pioneering efforts certainly remind us how controlled most 'news' in this country is, and how much alternatives to them are needed." [7]

The Hollywood Reporter was more negative, saying "Mad as Hell is far too subjective to take seriously."[8]

The Wrap also awarded the film a negative review, saying "'Mad as Hell' will probably reward fans of Uygur and The Young Turks, but much like the clips we see of Uygur in his full-flowering arm-waving wrath, it’s just sound and fury signifying very, very little."[9]

Slant Magazine awarded it 2 and a half out of four stars, and was critical of how the film focused primarily on Uygur rather than current media practices, saying "Yet instead of using Uygur as a means to further an investigation into current media practices, Napier is ultimately too enamored with the man and his convictions that the film hews more closely to being a conventional and one-sided biographical portrait."[10] We Got This Covered made a similar criticism, saying "Mad As Hell is a rare opportunity to use the life story of Cenk Uygur to say something about the modern media culture, but instead, it’s kind of about the awesomeness of Uygur, how he put together his Ocean’s 11 like team of media upstarts and rocked the so-called squares in their ivory tower, despite the fact that the man leading the revolution longed to have a corner office in one of those very same towers." They awarded it three out of five stars.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Rapold, Nicolas (February 5, 2015). "The Righteous Ranter, Howling at Left and Right". The New York Times. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
  2. ↑ Cheshire, Godfrey, February 6, 2015 "Mad As Hell Review" (http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mad-as-hell-2015) RogerEbert.com. Accessed 27 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Mad As Hell indiegogo Campaign" (https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mad-as-hell#/) Indiegogo. Accessed 27 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Mad As Hell DVD Listing"(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SI8PSJY Amazon. Accessed 27 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Mad As Hell Metacritic Ranking" (http://www.metacritic.com/movie/mad-as-hell) Metacritic. Accessed 27 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Mad as Hell Rotten Tomatoes listing" (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mad_as_hell_2014/). Rotten Tomatoes. Accessed 9 July 2016.
  7. ↑ Cheshire, Godfrey, February 6, 2015 "Mad As Hell Review" (http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mad-as-hell-2015) RogerEbert.com. Accessed 27 March 2016.
  8. ↑ 2/5/2015, Scheck, Frank, "'Mad as Hell': Film Review" (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/mad-as-hell-film-review-770536) The Hollywood Reporter. Accessed 27 March 2016.
  9. ↑ February 3, 2015, Rocchi, James "‘Mad as Hell’ Review: Cenk Uygur and The Young Turks Explored in Doc That’s More Like a Clip Reel - See more at: https://www.thewrap.com/review-mad-as-hell-ceynk-uygur-andrew-napier-the-young-turks/#sthash.VUdWF6iO.dpuf" (https://www.thewrap.com/review-mad-as-hell-ceynk-uygur-andrew-napier-the-young-turks/) The Wrap. Accessed 27 March 2016.
  10. ↑ Greene, Wes, February 2, 2015. "Mad As Hell Review" (http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/mad-as-hell) Slant Magazine. Accessed 27 March 2016.
  11. ↑ Donaldson, Adam, 2013, "http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/mad-hell-review-hot-docs-2014/" (http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/mad-hell-review-hot-docs-2014/) We Got This Covered. Accessed 27 March 2016.
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