The Great Buck Howard

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The Great Buck Howard

PG

2009

1h 30m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

70%

Tomatometer

94 Reviews

49%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Defying his father and dropping out of law school, aspiring writer Troy Gable looks for a way to gain some meaningful life experience. Troy gets that and more when he takes a job with Buck Howard, a vainglorious mentalist who hopes to reinvigorate his fading career by staging a big comeback.

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Critics Consensus

By turns fluffy and biting, this show biz comedy is given girth by comic heavyweight John Malkovich and made all the more charming by Emily Blunt.

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Leo Goldsmith

IndieWire

Aug 8, 2009

Malkovich's titular mentalist is the primary focus of attention%u2014and sadly the source of many of the film's unique problems. In a career of strange performances, Malkovich turns in a true curiosity here%u2014and maybe it's because he is not, for once,

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Jonathan F. Richards

Film.com

Apr 9, 2009

This is not a rare movie, but it does have a warm red center. It's likable, and its appeal grows as it recovers from a shaky start and finds its footing.

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Amy Biancolli

Houston Chronicle

Apr 3, 2009

3/4

A modest snapshot of a performer.

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Kathy Fennessy

Seattle Film Blog

Jul 20, 2024

3/4

Produced by Tom Hanks's Playtone banner, The Great Buck Howard follows the rise, fall, and rise template of many Hanks productions (see Starter for Ten and his own That Thing You Do!), but [Sean] McGinly handles a large cast with ease.

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Dec 2, 2023

2.5/4

The film’s light comedy is very light, inspiring chuckles right through without ever making us weep for the characters or bust a gut from laughter.

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Felicia Feaster

Charleston City Paper

Jan 27, 2020

The Great Buck Howard has a pleasantly rueful approach. Instead of the scatological humor in raucous bromances like I Love You, Man, The Great Buck Howard offers a more low-key thoughtfulness about how success is defined.

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Robert P

@Superbad 1 hr ago

The Great Buck Howard is a 3 star Movie!

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Teddy S

@Teddy_S Aug 30, 2026

A warm, amusing, gentle film. Didn't expect to like it as much as I did. It won't blow your socks off but I found it very endearing. Malkovich's performance is nice and there's a bunch of fun cameos.

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Laurance M

@RT95298844 Jul 24, 2026

How could you not like this movie? Movies are supposed to be entertaining and this one is. And it's offbeat and full of surprise star cameos. If you want to look for deep meanings and life lessons sure you will find that as well. But the John Malkovich performance alone holds it all together and makes it a sure enjoyable watch.

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David S.

@dstreusand Apr 5, 2026

Malkovich was great! Good movie about the entertainment business and the struggle to be successful.

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Steve D

@RT35616104 Oct 7, 2023

The cast is all it has.

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Gareth v

@geewah Jun 21, 2023

Feel good dramedy that is carried by the performance of Malkovich and the underrated Blunt.

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Sean McGinly

Director

John Malkovich

Buck Howard

Colin Hanks

Troy Gable

Emily Blunt

Valerie Brennan

Steve Zahn

Kenny

Tom Hanks

Mr. Gable

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Synopsis

Defying his father and dropping out of law school, aspiring writer Troy Gable looks for a way to gain some meaningful life experience. Troy gets that and more when he takes a job with Buck Howard, a vainglorious mentalist who hopes to reinvigorate his fading career by staging a big comeback.

Director: Sean McGinly
Producer: Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman
Screenwriter: Sean McGinly
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Playtone Productions
Rating: PG (Suggestive Remarks|Some Language|A Drug Reference)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 20, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 22, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $748.4K
Runtime: 1h 30m

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