49
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 65NPRElla TaylorNPRElla TaylorFor the charming but skin-deep documentary When Comedy Went to School, filmmakers Mevlut Akkaya and Ron Frank gained enviable access to pioneer stars of Borscht Belt standup.
- 60New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierNew York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierThink you know all about comedy? This thorough, funny and thoroughly funny chronicle of the Catskills Mountains resorts — that is, the Borscht belt — will still teach you a thing or two.
- 60VarietyRonnie ScheibVarietyRonnie ScheibRon Frank and Melvut Akkaya’s docu isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but as a brief history of the Catskill resorts, liberally laced with well-edited archival promos, songs, homemovies and extended excerpts from routines by Jewish comics who performed there, it consistently entertains.
- 60Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranFor a disorganized film that has trouble deciding what it's about, When Comedy Went to School can be a lot of fun.
- 50Slant MagazineSlant MagazineIt confuses nostalgia for earth-shaking cultural upheaval, never really expounding on the actual effect of the Borscht Belt circuit's influence.
- Fortunately for the filmmakers, most of the comedians interviewed here — Jerry Stiller, Jackie Mason, Jerry Lewis and many other (mostly male) voices — provide lighthearted remembrances to elevate this poorly executed documentary.
- 50New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickSuperficial and hokey yet still oddly endearing.
- Not all styles of humor stand the test of time, and the documentary When Comedy Went To School, about the Borscht Belt stand-ups who worked the Catskills during the ’40s, ’50s, and ’60s, helplessly drives the point home.
- 40Time OutTime OutWhat’s missing is the onstage archival footage that would show us why this humor mattered in the first place—there are only a handful of five-second snippets.
- 38Boston GlobeMark FeeneyBoston GlobeMark FeeneyA documentary about comedy needs to be funny. The old guys, as noted, have definitely lost a lot off their collective fastball.