David Nusair Reel Film Reviews Apr 22, 2023 1.5/4

...a relentlessly quirky comedy that remains curiously uninvolving for the duration of its short-yet-not-short-enough running time...

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Julian Lytle Punch Drunk Critics Jan 11, 2020 3/5

The Clapper is a comedy that doesn't totally know what it wants to be, a commentary on fame and class or a romantic comedy. What we end up with is something that never really does both well and ends up hampering each theme.

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Cate Marquis We Are Movie Geeks Apr 26, 2019 3/5

The Clapper is not a film for everyone. It is a small film that has some charm as a sweet oddball rom com but which falls short in exploring its characters.

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Todd Jorgenson Cinemalogue Jan 25, 2019

There's not much to applaud in this misguided offbeat comedy that fails to generate sufficient humor or poignancy from a broad satirical target.

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Louisa Moore Screen Zealots Dec 21, 2018 1/5

The thin premise lacks any compelling elements, is absent of any engaging characters, and eventually goes nowhere.

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Adam Patterson Film Pulse Nov 29, 2018 3/10

An exercise in patience that rewards viewers with a tacked-on ending that simply reinforces the fact that this is a film filled with squandered talent and sloppy storytelling.

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Bradley Gibson Film Threat Nov 25, 2018 6/10

I expect shade will be thrown because of the film's low ambition, and it truly is (intentionally?) sloppy and doesn't have great production values, but the benchmark for stories is whether they can touch an audience and The Clapper does.

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Joey Magidson AwardsCircuit.com Nov 25, 2018 1.5/4

The concept here had potential, but the execution makes it completely dead on arrival.

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Brian Orndorf Blu-ray.com Feb 1, 2018 D

Perhaps Montiel is after something bigger than what "The Clapper" ultimately offers, but it's not an ambitious picture, hitting easy targets with crude screenwriting and bland performances.

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Jeffrey M. Anderson Common Sense Media Jan 26, 2018 3/5

Though it's not exactly brilliant, this indie romcom is passably charming, and it finds offbeat atmosphere in an uncharted corner of Hollywood: scuzzy places where the glamorous would fear to tread.

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Sheila O'Malley RogerEbert.com Jan 26, 2018 1/4

If it's supposed to be a comedy, it's not funny. If it's supposed to be a satire, it doesn't know what it's satirizing.

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Jeffrey Edalatpour SF Weekly Jan 26, 2018

The movie is a less assured version of Shira Piven's Welcome to Me, in which she and Kristen Wiig unleash the full neurotic potential of the "15 minutes of fame" expression. The Clapper only pays lip service to it.

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Sheri Linden The Hollywood Reporter Jan 26, 2018

Montiel treats his story's happily unsung oddballs with sincere affection. He doesn't hold them up to ridicule, or insist that they snap out of their quirkiness and conform. But he doesn't quite know what to do with them.

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Tatiana Craine Village Voice Jan 25, 2018

It's an interesting premise, but The Clapper doesn't live up to its namesake.

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Shirley Sealy Film Journal International Jan 25, 2018

There's zero real humor in The Clapper-at least not the kind we've come to expect from its stars.

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Nell Minow Movie Mom Jan 25, 2018 B-

The screenplay is uneven, but the exceptionally strong cast makes it watchable.

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Gary Goldstein Los Angeles Times Jan 25, 2018

It may be early in the year, but it's a good bet "The Clapper" will land among 2018's worst films.

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Jeannette Catsoulis New York Times Jan 25, 2018

Even at a time of year when movie companies typically unload their dross, the sheer awfulness of Dito Montiel's "The Clapper" stands out.

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Neil Pond Parade Magazine Jan 25, 2018 3/5

A small movie with a big, generous heart, it never makes fun of its characters, even the guy who trots around Hollywood in a diaper, or the dude dressed up like a big baked potato.

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Keith Watson Slant Magazine Jan 23, 2018 1/4

The Clapper hints at the psychological roots of Eddie's peculiar personality, but in the end it isn't at all interested in understanding the man. And that's because it's too busy making fun of him.

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