Czech Dream has an impish effectiveness. But what saves it from being an arrogantly aren't-we-clever? home movie is, refreshingly, the flimflammed masses themselves, lured as the bargain-hungry but left looking like cattle out for a graze.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
On one level, this is an altogether obvious lesson about market capitalism.
Whether you conclude that this project is a brilliant hoax that exposes how the rapid transition from communism to a free market economy has created an ad addicted, consumer-mad culture in the Czech Republic, or simply a cruel joke, one thing is undeniable. It's a fascinating account.
Chicago Tribune by Michael Phillips
A small but droll big-box comedy.
The New York Times by Stephen Holden
When they discover they've been made fools of, they accept this performance event with surprising equanimity. There is a lot of grumbling but no riot. They get the joke.
The film did well at the local box office and has been shown at some 40 international festivals. Eat your heart out, Michael Moore.