Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Bea Swanson This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Ortiz Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Roland E. Zwick In 2005, actor Vince Vaughn gathered together a handful of comedians from The Comedy Store in Hollywood - Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, Bret Ernst and Sebastian Maniscalco - built an extended stand-up show around their acts, then took it on the road for a 30-city-in-30-day whirlwind tour across the United States, starting in Los Angeles and ending in Chicago, with 28 stops in between. Vaughn also brought a few documentary filmmakers along for the ride, the result being "Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show," an at best fair-to-middling account of that event.Some of the backstage stuff is of moderate interest - particularly the comics offering a free show to some Hurricane Katrina refugees and Ernst's touching reflections on his older brother who died of AIDS. But one can only hope that we're not being treated to the best of the on-stage material here. For if truth be told, there aren't nearly as many laughs to be gleaned from these performances as one might expect given the caliber of talent involved. At best, the routines elicit a few hearty chuckles, along with a surprising number of humor-deprived dead spots. The behind-the-scenes activities are marginally more entertaining (the interviews with the boys' families are sometimes quite informative and amusing), but the movie doesn't provide nearly the depth of insight into the world of standup comedy that, say, Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedian" did a few years back.Still the guys in the group are likable enough and their camaraderie ultimately becomes infectious, earning the movie at least a lukewarm recommendation, especially for devotees of the subject.

lustyvita It seems as though a lot of people were expecting a comedy show, as opposed to a documentary on a comedy show. Its a shame they have to pan the film for not dazzling them with humor, when it has so much more to offer. I find the filmmaker's choices and the honesty of those on camera riveting (i.e. insecurity, heckling, bad jokes, good jokes, grateful to ungracious and back again) Maybe I wouldn't have enjoyed the show in person (on an off night), but I truly enjoyed the evolution of the show from Vince's eyes. I want to make love to him. A similar film is THE COMEDIAN, being in show business I find the material incredibly compelling, those of you who like sports or Larry the Cable Guy obviously, it wouldn't be for you. Interestingly there were no women on the crew or in the show . . . hmmmmm

closeupman I went to a preview screening yesterday and I must saw I was presently surprised. There was a negative review here and I thought it wouldn't be that good.It was a great movie, and the serious side (as short as it was), made it even better. They give free tickets to Katrina survivors(although I'm disappointed that Vince didn't go out there with the other comedians and help hand out that tickets, he just took a photo after the show with some of the survivors), I think it was a poignant moment and helped to not make the movie just one continuous cavalcade of laughs. It's trying to show not only the human side of the comedians but of the audience as well.One of the funniest moments is when one of the Katrina survivors, a young teen, recognizes Keir by saying,"You're the gay guy!" The audience was laughing so hard at that! I think too that Ahmed Ahmed didn't get enough time. The irritating comedian got way too much screen time...how much of his 'swearing' do we need to hear.I think though that the short 'montages' without audio need to go, either have the audio of the stick or cut it out, it's no fun to just watch the comedians do something and not hear it.8/10

TODude I just saw this last night at the Toronto Film Festival. Whereas some of the comedy bits by all 4 comedians were hysterically funny (Bret Ernst and John Caparulo both outstanding), the film itself was too long to constantly maintain interest. This doc still needs some major editing. Vince Vaughn should be commended for instigating this project and giving the 4 guys major exposure, but perhaps he should tone down the Tom Hanks mannerisms. I found that very disconcerting. But many in the audience cheered wildly throughout the film, and when all appeared on stage afterward for a Q&A, they were all witty and gracious. I would like to see more of Bret Ernst in the future. I was also a little disappointed at the amount of screen time given to Ahmed Ahmed. He was almost lost in the shuffle. One small spoiler, so be warned. Sebastian finally quit his day job!