The late, famed film critic Roger Ebert had no qualms about voicing his strong opinion about movies in a confrontational manner. In 2005, Ebert published a list of 56 feature films that he declared as his Most Hated of All Time. Firmly entrenched on the list was Rob Schneider’s crude sex comedy sequel, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, the final straw in a long-running beef with the ’90s movie star and Saturday Night Live alum.
Three years earlier, Ebert wrote a scathing review of Schneider’s The Hot Chick, awarding it a .5/4-star review that instigated the actor-critic dust-up. As Ebert continued to insult Schneider’s movies, the actor pushed back with a vicious attack on Ebert and a fellow film critic, prompting one of the most epic responses from any professional film reviewer. Now that 20 years have passed, it’s time to revisit the infamous feud between Roger Ebert and Rob Schneider.
Roger Ebert’s Opinion of Rob Schneider’s Movies Through the Years
Before chewing on the juicy beef, it’s worth chronicling the evolution of Roger Ebert’s view of Rob Schneider’s movies. In 1999, Schneider landed his first real leading role in Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, an openly juvenile and raunchy R-rated sex comedy in which Schneider portrays an unlucky tropical fish tank cleaner who becomes a seductive male escort.
Although Ebert awarded the film only 1.5/4 stars in his review, he admitted:
“I laughed, yes, I did, several times during ‘Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.’ That’s proof, if any is required, that I still possess streaks of immaturity and vulgarity. May I never lose them.”
Flashforward to 2002. Schneider starred in The Hot Chick, another sophomoric and puerile comedy about a teenage mean girl trapped inside the body of an older man. Ebert was far less amused by The Hot Chick than he was by Deuce Bigalow, writing in his .5/4-star review:
“The movie resolutely avoids all the comic possibilities of its situation, and becomes one more dumb high school comedy about sex gags and prom dates. Through superhuman effort of the will, I did not walk out of ‘The Hot Chick,’ but reader, I confess I could not sit through the credits.”
By this point, Schneider may have been hurt by Ebert’s harsh criticisms. However, he kept quiet until the 2005 sequel, Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, escalated the feud to a new level.
Roger Ebert Tells Rob Schneider, “Your Movie Sucks!”
The epic rivalry between Roger Ebert and Rob Schneider intensified in 2005 following the release of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. With a 9% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a 23 Metascore, not many professional film critics said kind words about the movie. One staunch detractor was L.A. Times film critic Patrick Goldstein, who hated the movie so much that he penned a scathing indictment on the entire American studio system for allowing such uninspired dreck to be produced.
Goldstein’s review was so brutal that it prompted a response from Schneider. According to SF Gate, he insulted Goldstein and called him a “third-rate, unfunny, pompous reporter” and attempted to discredit his review by stating that Goldstein had never won a Pulitzer Prize for journalism or film criticism.
Upon hearing about Schneider’s attack on Goldstein, Ebert stood up for his fellow film critic and absolutely unloaded on Schneider. In his vicious 0-star review of Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo, Ebert blasted Schneider, writing:
“But Schneider is correct, and Patrick Goldstein has not yet won a Pulitzer Prize. Therefore, Goldstein is not qualified to complain that Columbia financed ‘Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo’ while passing on the opportunity to participate in ‘Million Dollar Baby,’ ‘Ray,’ ‘The Aviator,’ ‘Sideways,’ and ‘Finding Neverland.’ As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks.”
Adding insult to injury, Ebert compared Goldstein’s lifetime accolades to Schneider’s and noted that, “Schneider was nominated for a 2000 Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor, but lost to Jar-Jar Binks.” Ouch. A flurry of creative insults between Ebert and Schneider lasted for the next two years, until the feud unexpectedly ended with a sweet-natured truce that no one saw coming.
Roger Ebert and Rob Schneider Make Up and Put the Beef Behind Them
In 2007, Ebert published a compilation of his harshest movie reviews and titled it Your Movie Sucks, an overt reference to his criticism of Schneider and European Gigolo. That same year, Ebert’s cancer got worse after he had his jaw removed and lost his ability to speak the year prior.
It was no laughing matter whatsoever, and Schneider vowed to make peace with Ebert by sending him flowers and a get-well note wishing him a speedy recovery that ended with, “your least favorite movie star.” Ebert was so moved by the kind gesture that he revisited his review of European Gigolo and offered the addendum:
“[The flowers sent] were a reminder, if I needed one, that although Rob Schneider might (in my opinion) have made a bad movie, he is not a bad man, and no doubt tried to make a wonderful movie, and hopes to again. I hope so, too.”
Although Ebert ultimately succumbed to his fight with cancer in 2013, at least he and Schneider squashed their beef beforehand and found a sense of peaceable closure over something as trivial as a movie opinion. That being said, Ebert’s opinion on the current state of cinema is needed now more than ever as movie theaters face extinction in the wake of disposable, quantity-over-quality streaming.
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