Critic Reviews
D.E.B.S. (2004) Rank 5 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (105) reviews
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Reel.com
D.E.B.S. is smart, sexy, original, campy, and hilarious. In short, it's brilliant. The movie feels like a live-action Saturday morning cartoon from the 1970s, which isn't surprising, given that it grew out of superhero-type sketches by writer/director ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Reel.com
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
First time director Angela Robinson’s spy-spoof-meets-teen-flick comedy is enormous fun and the coolest lesbian movie since Bound.Writer-director Angela Robinson’s debut feature D.E.B.S. was a huge crowd-pleaser at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
In the wonderful
world of show business, counter-programming refers to the usually
effective strategy of releasing two completely different movies
at the same time so that each film will appeal to its ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Scott's Movie Reviews (Scott Mantz)
Journal News (Westchester, NY) (Kevin Canfield)
SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
In many ways D.E.B.S. could be construed as another film that joins the fad for spy movie spoofs that began with Austin Powers, International Man of ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
San Francisco Chronicle (Ruthe Stein)
Toss "Spy Kids," "Charlie's Angels," "X-Men" and "The L Word" into a blender, and something like "D.E.B.S." would probably come pouring out. A lumpy concoction about nubile teens in training to become secret agents, "D.E. B.S." is a prime example of a ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Ruthe Stein)
DVD Clinic (Scott Weinberg)
A half-successful experiment that hoped to combine playful lesbian sexuality with a lighthearted espionage vibe, D.E.B.S. is certainly a pretty unique little movie. It's quite a cute and difficult-to-dislike flick, and one ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at DVD Clinic (Scott Weinberg)
Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
Angela Robinson released her short film, D.E.B.S. to much fanfare at the Sundance Film Festival in 2003. Now, a year later, she has put together a feature length film on the concept (an elite group of women recruited into a secret spy organization ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Film Threat, Hollywood's Indie Voice
The Hollywood Reporter (Duane Byrge)
Splashed and accessorized with brainy nonsense, "D.E.B.S." is a ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at The Hollywood Reporter (Duane Byrge)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
Unexpectedly fresh, thanks mostly to the sweetly exuberant love story at its center. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
DVD Authority.com ("Fusion3600")
JoBlo's Movie Emporium (JoBlo)
filmcritic.com
AfterEllen.com - Lesbian and Bi Women in Entertainment
filethirteen.com
Entertainment Insiders (Stephen Wong)
DVD Verdict (Mitchell Hattaway)
Three Movie Buffs (Scott Nash)
It seems that buried within the SAT that all college bound high school students take, is a secret test that measures a person's aptitude for spying. Those who score high (and apparently this is only ever very attractive women) are recruited into ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Three Movie Buffs (Scott Nash)
Chicago Tribune (Allison Benedikt)
So what started as a female "Agent Cody Banks" happily and seamlessly becomes so much more, with style and substance existing in unusual harmony for a spy spoof. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Chicago Tribune (Allison Benedikt)
New York Daily News (Elizabeth Weitzman)
Cute, campy and as proudly insubstantial as its heroines' micro-miniskirts, D.E.B.S. deftly fulfills its Jane Bond fantasies without so much as breaking a nail. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at New York Daily News (Elizabeth Weitzman)
DVD Talk (Francis Rizzo III)
The Bottom Line A feel-good spy spoof for most of the film, D.E.B.S. finally succumbs to the temptation to be a real dramatic film, which is a bit of a disappointment, considering how good the spoof is. The characters the film is populated with are fun, ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at DVD Talk (Francis Rizzo III)
Movie Gazette (Gary Panton)
Lipstick lesbianism and awful acting are the order of the day in this semi-enjoyable spy caper. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Movie Gazette (Gary Panton)
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
Reel.com (Sarah Chauncey)
Premiere Magazine (Peter Debruge)
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Some might call this trash, while others might call it a satire on trash. Whichever you call it, it's not very good as either. D.E.B.S. is a mish-mash of many other films aimed at teens, from Charlie's Angels to Agent Cody Banks, except in this case, with ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Comingsoon.net
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Rainbow Network (Rachael Scott)
PopMatters (Todd R. Ramlow)
Political Film Society
Film-Forward.com
allesfilm.com (Thomas Taborsky)
digitallyOBSESSED.com (Rich Rosell)
Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
It's so spoofy it's difficult to call 'good' or even 'bad'; just say it's smooth. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
Film Threat (Pete Vonder Haar)
If you didn't like "Charlie’s Angels," there’s a good chance you'll enjoy the smarter, sexier D.E.B.S. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Film Threat (Pete Vonder Haar)
Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
For an unabashedly silly spoof of a girly action flick, D.E.B.S. is unexpectedly fresh, thanks mostly to the sweetly exuberant love story at its center. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
TV Guide (Ken Fox)
The terrific soundtrack, which includes the Only Ones' "Another Girl, Another Planet" and New Order's most excellent "Temptation," is heavily weighted towards the '80s, which is exactly as it should be. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at TV Guide (Ken Fox)
reelmoviecritic.com
Fresno Bee (Donald Munro)
It's campy, but it isn't a camp classic. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Fresno Bee (Donald Munro)
eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
Reel Film Reviews (David Nusair)
eFilmCritic (Todd LaPlace)
Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents
MTV.com (Kurt Loder)
eye WEEKLY (Adam Nayman)
eFilmCritic (Scott Weinberg)
Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
The Onion A.V. Club
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Jennie Punter)
The most endearing aspect of D.E.B.S., a sweet-spirited spoof, is that the lesbian romance is played for real, with no nudge-nudge wink-wink irony. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Jennie Punter)
Slant Magazine
JoBlo's Movie Emporium ("JoBlo")
Can you really go wrong with a movie starring 4 hotties acting like spies, carrying big guns, wearing Catholic schoolgirl uniforms and cavorting in some lesbo action?? I mean…really, can…you…go…wrong? Sadly for us…apparently, you can. While D.E.B.S. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at JoBlo's Movie Emporium ("JoBlo")
The Cinema Source (John Disogra)
The plot outline of this movie is as predictable as a morning sunrise. Not to say that DEBS doesn't have its own moments where one won't entirely fall asleep but the way that the movie is structured is just so cheesy. This movie is so bad, it doesn't ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at The Cinema Source (John Disogra)
New York Post (Kyle Smith)
Most of the second half is taken up by the surprisingly sticky, amateurishly acted love story about desperate lovers on opposite sides of the law, and there are long stretches without laughs.
The crowd at Meow Mix will lap it up, though, and ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at New York Post (Kyle Smith)
The Cinema Source (John Disogra)
The plot outline of this movie is as predictable as a morning sunrise. Not to say that DEBS doesn't have its own moments where one won't entirely fall asleep but the way that the movie is structured is just so cheesy. This movie is so bad, it doesn't ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at The Cinema Source (John Disogra)
Chicago Tribune (Allison Benedikt)
La Presse, Montréal (--)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)
Something supremely silly yet slyly subversive: a gay girl-power romance in skimpy exploitation clothing. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Ken Fox)
Boxoffice Magazine (Annlee Ellingson)
There's an undercurrent of commentary that elevates it above spoof-dom. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Boxoffice Magazine (Annlee Ellingson)
eFilmCritic.com (Scott Weinberg)
D.E.B.S. is light and airy and frequently quite fun, yet one can't help but feel that the feature-length version is too little butter spread over too much toast. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Scott Weinberg)
Boxoffice Magazine
Filmsalon.be (Bruno Pletinck)
UpcomingDiscs.com (Ryan Keefer)
I didn’t know what quite to expect from watching D.E.B.S. for the first time. So, it looks like a group of college girls who double as CIA assassins, right? OK, I can buy that, I mean, I’m a fan of Alias, so I can dig it. You’ve got Amy (Sara Foster, ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at UpcomingDiscs.com (Ryan Keefer)
filmcritic.com (Chris Barsanti)
Somewhat like watching the Disney Channel’s girl-power prime-time lineup through a muddled exploitation-lite filter, D.E.B.S. is a patently ridiculous teen-spies scenario that’s played mostly for laughs but oddly enough only works when ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at filmcritic.com (Chris Barsanti)
Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
With the fun, nonstop momentum of a Saturday morning cartoon, D.E.B.S. makes you forgive most of its shortcomings. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Arizona Daily Star (Phil Villarreal)
USA Today (Staff (Not credited))
But even by the dull standards of movies so far this year, it seems mighty piffling. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at USA Today (Staff (Not credited))
San Francisco Chronicle (Ruthe Stein)
Newsday (Gene Seymour)
Even if it doesn't add up to a whole lot, the movie is content to tickle you gently more than jab you in the ribs. These days, that's saying a lot. Alas. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Newsday (Gene Seymour)
San Francisco Chronicle (Ruthe Stein)
A prime example of a dispiriting trend: movies whose primary point of reference is other movies. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Ruthe Stein)
Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Alas, the movie isn't nearly as amusing as its premise, but it's refreshingly different from most run-of-the-mill teenage fare. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Christian Science Monitor (David Sterritt)
Globe and Mail (Jennie Punter)
The most endearing aspect of D.E.B.S. , a sweet-spirited spoof, is that the lesbian romance is played for real, with no nudge-nudge wink-wink irony. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Globe and Mail (Jennie Punter)
filmcritic.com (Chris Barsanti)
less daring or funny than a sub-par WB show ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at filmcritic.com (Chris Barsanti)
LA Weekly (Ernest Hardy)
Doesn't live up to its genre-crossing, parodic ambitions. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at LA Weekly (Ernest Hardy)
The Onion (A.V. Club) (Nathan Rabin)
An incorrigible tease. It baits its audience with the promise of fluffy, light-footed cotton-candy fare, but delivers a clumsy, talky, indifferently filmed lesbian romance. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at The Onion (A.V. Club) (Nathan Rabin)
Chicago Reader (J.R. Jones)
This forced spoof seems to be targeted at lesbian couples and hetero men with severe schoolgirl fetishes; that may be a legitimate market, but I'd hate to be sitting between them. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Chicago Reader (J.R. Jones)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
At some point during the pitch meetings for D.E.B.S. someone must certainly have used the words "Charlie's ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
At some point during the pitch meetings for "D.E.B.S." someone must certainly have used the words "Charlie's Lesbians." The formula is perfectly obvious: ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Dress it up with all the kitsch in the world, this is still just a lesbian falling-in-love story, and not a very interesting one at that. The characters are two-dimensional parody characters, trapped in a movie that doesn't know how to do parody. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
var sc_project=300230;
var ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
ShowBIZ Data
Supposedly the selling feature of D.E.B.S. (an acronym for Discipline, Energy, Beauty, Strength), which debuted as a short at the Sundance Film Festival, was its description as a lesbian/teen send-up of Charlie's Angels. But several critics suggest that ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at ShowBIZ Data
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
You might think there's no downside to a movie that peeks up the skirts of babes in micro-minis, but writer-director Angela Robinson's dimwitted satire is libido-killing proof to the contrary. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
You might think there's no downside to a movie that peeks up the skirts of babes in micro-minis, but writer-director Angela Robinson's dimwitted satire is libido-killing proof to the contrary. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Los Angeles Daily News (Bob Strauss)
It's not easy to make an unwatchable movie about too-skinny girls in too-short skirts packing big guns. Somehow, though, D.E.B.S. gets it all wrong. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Los Angeles Daily News (Bob Strauss)
eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
D.E.B.S. is so unflinchingly cute that it forgets to be either funny or flat-out satiric. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
Toronto Star (Susan Walker)
Only the world of X-rated movies overlooks such flimsiness of plot, absence of acting talent, cheap special effects, banal dialogue and scantily clad young women. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Toronto Star (Susan Walker)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Hot schoolgirls are recruited by the feds to fight crime as D.E.B.S. (Discipline, Energy, Beauty, Strength). Their target is Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster), a thief who recruits D.E.B.S. star Amy (Sara Foster) for some hot lesbo action. Amy's hetero ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Deliberate, dimwitted and surprisingly dull. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
ShowBIZ Data (--)
The New York Times (Stephen Holden)
The film has no idea of how to develop its one-joke premise. The tepid love scenes are as erotically charged as a home movie of a little girl hugging her Barbie doll, and the satire as cutting as the blunt edge of a plastic butter knife. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at The New York Times (Stephen Holden)
New York Times (Stephen Holden)
A heat-free pseudo-lesbian spoof of Charlie's Angels by way of Heathers . ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at New York Times (Stephen Holden)
IGN Movies (Todd Gilchrist)
Charlie's Angels written as a teen comedy and re-enacted by Barbie dolls. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at IGN Movies (Todd Gilchrist)
eFilmCritic.com (David Cornelius)
It wants to be funny, or, failing that, at least fun, and yet it is neither. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at eFilmCritic.com (David Cornelius)
FilmJerk.com (Edward Havens)
A debacle, a debasement of common sense and debatably the worst movie to be released so far this year. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at FilmJerk.com (Edward Havens)
Washington Post (Michael O'Sullivan)
A hideously unfunny spy spoof with pretensions to social satire in its treatment of a lesbian relationship. ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Washington Post (Michael O'Sullivan)
Entertainment Weekly
The elite squad of girly-girl crime fighters who flounce and ditz their way through D.E.B.S. wearing Catholic-school jailbait outfits made me wonder: Did the director, Angela Robinson, realize that it's a fool's game to try and parody the Charlie's ...read the complete D.E.B.S. movie review at Entertainment Weekly
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