Adopted (2009) User Reviews

Misunderstood

[jcarmyboy · 5/10 · 20 June 2010]

Whoever wrote the last review must not know a lot about movies at all.. This movie was suppose to a knock off of Borat without all the sexually oriented humor. Although some of the humor seemed like he was trying to hard to maintain his 1990s pot head humor, he really wasn't funny then and isn't funny now. Don't really know what people was expecting from this movie. I knew the movie wasn't going to win a Emmy or a Oscar and I wasn't let down.

Final Note:

If you like Borat. It is worth watching.

If you don't like Borat you will hate this movie.

Cheesy reality tv meets improve comedy

[Bali_Loke · 5/10 · 23 March 2020]

Adopted shows a different, gritty side of African International adoption. Pauly Shore makes a great host to an real world look at adoption via an African Adventure. Adopted brings the viewer into Pauly Shore's life and shows us both his responsible side as well as his flaws. Credit where credit is due Pauly tried his damnedest, but he lacks something as a potential parent as is discovered in the movie. I suspect that the African social services agency treated him as they would have treated anyone else who wanted to adopt a foster child. It's not that he gets treated unfairly, it's just that the movie needed an ending. Pauly Shore could have been satisfied with becoming a parent, maybe if they had been familiar with who he was and liked him as an actor he would have.

Adopted would've been better had the production taken a higher degree of professional courtesy to their approach towards adoption. Pauly Shore might've made a good parent. The story was great and the film seemed long. That is to say if he hadn't encountered somewhat hilarious problems adopting an African foster child the movie would've ended abruptly. The film's star performer's role in the botched adoption attempt, simply put, stole his own spotlight. What with the unreliable film crew and poor planning this movie's goal, which I'd assume was to show the process of celebrity adoption is riddled with problems. The sequel will need much improvement! They should try again. Perhaps adopting a child in Asia minor as is shown briefly would be a true proving ground for a sequel. However it seems that the change in location serves only to prolong the inevitable failure of the premise (or story) if you will

Tasteless and an Excruciating Waste of Time

[ridley_coppola · 1/10 · 11 June 2010]

As a person who works in the movie industry, I watch a variety of films on a regular basis. I consider it a labor of love and enjoy seeing films and documentaries of all backgrounds and genres because you never know when you'll find something amazing. However I have never felt so embarrassed for myself and the state of our culture (not to mention American citizens) when I watched this piece of insulting, tasteless, and desperate piece of intelligence-draining garbage. Not only was it completely saturated in racism, lame jokes, and humorless jabs at stereotypical Africa, but it seemed like a desperate attempt for Pauly Shore to reconnect with an audience that he lost about 15 years ago. I'm sure he's broke and needs some cash, but it shouldn't be at the expense of one of the poorest and most humble regions on earth. They simply don't have the money to sue Pauly Shore for exploiting and ridiculing these people and their culture. It's disgusting to me that we're living in a day and age where people will actually fund projects like this to be made, and in turn, they make money. Even though I firmly believe in the right to Freedom of Speech, it's trash like this that makes me wonder if people have any moral compass, respect, or compassion for other cultures anymore.

Fortunately, in my industry, I was able to view this film for free because it's part of my job. However, I hope those of you reading this review will keep in mind that there is an entire continent and race of people (not to mention numerous children) that certainly were not compensated nearly enough for the amount of damage and injustice this film does to them or will continue to do over the course of time. When you purchase this film, download it, or pay to rent it, you are reinforcing the studios and producers that support these kinds of wasted efforts. Your money is always the vote that counts, wherever and however you spend it. Don't let these people get rich for exploiting an undeserving, culturally rich and amazing continent that doesn't have the financial means or global posture to defend itself.

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It's rather unfortunate to see that some people choose to have a racist, bigoted sense of humor and actually have the nerve to call this trash "ironic." The level of ignorance in the world completely astounds me, especially considering that you'd think we would have evolved as a human race since the Civil Rights movement. Satire or mockumentary, real or not -- Pauly Shore's jokes in this movie aren't funny, they're seriously offensive (even to a caucasian person such as myself). If you find yourself laughing at them, I highly recommend you see a therapist as soon as possible and try to get help, because your lack of intelligence is a threat to civilization around you.

Exploiting young children

[roromeanie · 1/10 · 18 June 2020]

Worst movie. Most black exploitation of young children. So horrible.

Not funny, But a real life journey.

[candyala · 2/10 · 26 February 2017]

I watched it, all of it, plus the bonus, it was lame jokes, no originality, a stereotypical broader line racist observation,

as you will notice in the little bar stand-up the Africans[ black folks] themselves did not laugh at his jokes , and in response, he dissed/busted on them.

The film was careful not to have any audio from his stand-up performance in front of mainly white south Afrikaners, the producers knew American are more conscious / critical of crap racial / ethnic humor.

HE tried to make hood jokes where there was no hoods, I guess its the only reference to black folks he knows ?!

So it falls flat many times, but I will give him 2 stars for the journey .Yes,he did hang on the streets and in the end recommended how to appropriately support 'africa'.

The country was Azania/ the old south Africa..keep coming back and try again!!

Pauly being Pauly in the 2000's

[StevePulaski · 7/10 · 14 January 2011]

Adopted is not only a movie spoofing the recent celebrity fad, but it also proves that Pauly Shore can take a super serious topic like adoption in another country and turn it into a hilarious adventure. The film tells the story of how Pauly Shore travels to Africa to adopt a child that he has wanted for a long time. While trying to accomplish what he thinks is a simple goal, is actually more trouble than he had bargained for. And here comes a ninety minute doc-mockumentary about it.

Adopted is very similar to Pauly's 2004 mockumentary Pauly Shore is Dead where the actor himself fakes his own death, and becomes the genius that died before his time. The film takes on the role of being serious, when it's really one big joke on the audience and the people around Pauly in the film. It could almost be compared to Bruno where the lead character is just minding his own business, acting normal, and the people around him notice he has a screw loose.

Pauly Shore, like I said, doesn't have too much luck trying to adopt a kid. He looks into adopting an African youth named Odwa, who is just like a younger, hyper version of Pauly Shore. They seem to like each other, but Pauly's goal is to meet as many kids as he can before making a final decision. He meets two other children in the mix as well before coming to a consensus.

There is not a whole lot to say about this film, which is why mockumentaries make short reviews. There isn't a whole lot of plot, or important things to mention even when the film was good. You can clearly see Pauly is trying to win back old fans by acting like his crazy self. The flaw with that his he's in his early forties. He's running out of gas much like Tom Green. Not to say he's not still funny, he just doesn't compare to the nineties Pauly everyone knows and loves.

Adopted isn't perfect, but it's nice just to see a classic actor back doing his thing - making people (like me) laugh.

Directed by and Starring: Pauly Shore.

u'll b surprised - it's good

[cekadah · 9/10 · 7 October 2012]

first let me admit - i've always liked pauly shore. when i saw this movie i grabbed it because he seemed to have become another comedian lost to the horizon.

"adopted" is very engaging and i found myself actually liking the character he plays, even though the character is totally unfit to be a father. he places himself into bizarre but extremely humorous situations. all the while never realizing he's making a fool of himself. the child actors are perfect in their roles and i adored their self-assurance with this weird man looking to adopt.

made as a reality/mockumentary the film is finely edited and pauly shore should have received a great deal more publicity for this movie.

you'll enjoy it!

Some good laughs

[LawWithAppeal · 7/10 · 9 July 2010]

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie as Pauly hasn't really had much come out in a while, however the cover caught my eye off the bat as ridiculous. As many others I thought it might just be awful, however with an open mind and taking Shore's humor into consideration I watched it. I'm sorry but it's a MOCKumentary and it's a good one. I think some of the jokes could be found offensive if this were a documentary and Shore genuinely believed the stereotypes to be true, however it isn't. I think this is Shore's funniest stuff in a long time. In addition, I enjoyed seeing Africa, it looked beautiful. So all in all it is not for all, if you don't like Shore to begin with you will not like this movie, but if you are open to the comedy of it's worth the time to watch.

Full of Laughs

[gelder1995 · 9/10 · 19 July 2013]

This movie really made me chuckle. It took me a few minutes to get it but once I understood it really had me rolling around. It was obviously staged and not real. It was scripted. Anyone who gave it a bad review just maybe didn't catch that.

Shore isn't a great actor or anything he just does silly little things the whole time.

Really funny!! The kids in the film looked like they had a fun day too. I love the fact that he is poking at Madonna and Angelina too. I think their publicists did review here and really dissed him for it.

Hey, Madonna and Angelina..."This child does not want to go with you!" "You should be in prison!!"

hahaha. Keep your publicist off of these review sites. Ridley and Coppola...pssht, yeah right...fake name

Super-fun movie. Check it out.

It's Pauley Shore! What did you expect?!

[Sister_Spooky · 8/10 · 14 July 2010]

"The events in this film are entirely fictitious…" and if you didn't figure that out before the end credits rolled, irony is clearly not your thing. You're awesome. Good job.

Since he introduced the The Weasel in the 80s, Pauly Shore's brand of comedy has been childish and unsophisticated; make no mistake, Adopted is no exception. But for the first time in his career, his objective seems to be sincere. Pauly draws attention to some heavy subject matter, while poking fun at the ridiculousness of celebrity, and pointing out the general lack of knowledge and superior attitude that too many people have towards adoption in Africa. I wouldn't go so far as to say Pauly is all grown-up – the fourteen-year old part of me will mourn the day that he does – but he has definitely found an interesting way to reconnect with his now all-grown-up audience.

Not unlike the crude, satirical style of Sacha Baron Cohen, Pauly Shore's sense of humor can be… tricky, but the message is that you CAN be aware and be sensitive and find a way to laugh all at the same time. And after all these years, he still makes me laugh.

Actually...

[rosey0128 · 10/10 · 21 July 2010]

Adopted is not a cheap knockoff. Adopted was in the works before Borat was, thus the brief discussion in 2009 of Shore suing Baron Cohen since Shore's project came first (though this was later said to be to "mess with people" without any actual intention of suing).

The movie bluntly addresses some very sensitive topics; however, the intention is not merely to "shock." I believe Shore achieves his goals to: expand his audience's views of his range as an actor, director, producer, writer; illuminate the hypocrisy of individuals who attempt to help a continent by removing its children rather than sending support; and finally to create a funny and thoughtful piece that allows the viewer to consider what is real and what is scripted.

Pauly is the best

[ghettofunk-87538 · 9/10 · 14 June 2023]

Great movie!!!! I'm a fan of Pauly so I knew what to expect and it was that and more. Some of it was a little bit over the line but that's why I watch Pauly Shore for comedy. Nowadays everybody is tip toeing around like they're in the library. It's nice to see the great Mitzi Shore's son being himself and not letting cancel culture over take him publicly!!!!

The best thing is he literally just released this video on YouTube a month ago. In the funny, comedy world, I would compare it to Guest House, Bio Dome, and Encino Man. If you watch his podcast or podcast that he is a guest on you will also relayed it to this beautiful comedy.

Thank you, Pauly Shore.