Witless Protection poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Larry The Cable Guy, Ivana Milicevic, Yaphet Kotto, Peter Stormare, Eric Roberts ... see more see more... , Joe Mantegna , Jenny McCarthy , Gerry Bednob , J. David Moeller , Richard Bull , Sean Bridgers

When a small-town sheriff (Larry the Cable Guy) witnesses what he believes to be an attempted kidnapping, his effort to save the beautiful damsel in distress sets him down a wild path of comic mishap.... read more read more... Eric Roberts, Yaphet Kotto, Peter Stormare, and Joe Mantegna co-star in a comedy from Red Water and Christmas Rush director Charles Robert Carner. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Flixster Users

50% liked it

11,029 ratings

Critics

3% liked it

29 critics

PG-13, 1 hr. 37 min.

Directed by: Charles Robert Carner

Release Date: February 22, 2008

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: June 10, 2008

Get It:

Stats: 991 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

Larry The Cable Guy Witless Protection Witless Protection
Upload a Photo | View All Witless Protection Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (991)

  • bug761
    June 16, 2011
    bug761
    This is the first time I've ever agreed with the entire panel of critics on Flixster. Witless is right. I gave this movie the beneifit of the doubt because I love slapstick and Larry is pretty amusing on the "Blue Collar Comedy Tour". Larry did not transition well onto the big ... read morescreen. When I think of redneck, slapstick, sweet and funny with the underdog as the hero, my mind immediately goes to Jim Varney's 'Ernest P. Worrell', whose shoes Larry or other rednecks or redneck wannabes, will never be able to fill. I can't be the only one who sees Larry's attempts to mirror the lovable hayseed, Ernest. There is the hat, the accent, the clothes, the stand-up comedy then moving over into movies. This movie has too much crude humor and disgusting bathroom jokes and there is no excuse for the racist comments, especially in a movie such as this. The(dare I say it?) plot was weaker than the pulse of a comatose patient.*(And I am not making light of people who have suffered or are suffering through this. I'm just making a reference to how terrible this movie was). "Witless Protection" has deterred me from watching any of the other Larry movies. I think it's best for him to stick to stand-up comedy, which does work better for him. I'm from the South and I think that Larry does give us a bad name. You can do comedy without making fun of other races, sexual orientation or using over the top sexual comments and bathroom humor(One fart joke will do, sometimes). Is this what has become of America? Have we really sunk so low that every ridiculous script/movie is greelighted just because of a t.v. personalities' previous work? A good stand-up comedian doesn't necessarily translate to a good movie actor. Some people have it. Some don't. Larry doesn't.
  • husky10000years
    September 10, 2008
    husky10000years
    This is one of those slight-of-hand smart comedies, which explains why its target audience hated it so much. A lot of the stuff involves dumb gags, silly stereotypes, and the acting is not going to win any awards for comedy or otherwise. But it is all wound up into an enjoyable s... read moretory and directed well enough that even Eric Roberts is able to handle his role. It also has enough complexity and subtlety to keep it interesting.
  • Yinali
    August 15, 2008
    Yinali
    Very funny!
  • wbgoose13
    February 21, 2008
    wbgoose13
    Yep.
  • nickymo89
    August 17, 2009
    nickymo89
    Yeah it's bad but it knows it. Low-brow comedy for a mindless movie experience.
  • jusstpete
    May 13, 2012
    jusstpete
    A lot of the stuff involves dumb gags, silly stereotypes, and the acting is not going to win any awards for comedy or otherwise.
  • sykora259517
    March 19, 2010
    sykora259517
    w/ Larry the Cable Guy (or so he was called on Blue Collar tv. Well the movie is just that.. & Unfortunately thre?s no protection FROM the witless. Tey?re all around us & breeding!! Not really funny, can? t even remember ending. Only couple of chuckles here & there but it might h... read moreave been at a sound effect I didn?t ?see? coming. (I should have known better that there would be stuff to make the little boys laugh) Some of the dialog was bad unless it was the acting but then again Jenny McCarthy was in it & part of that dialog. I felt my I./Q. drop while watching this.. usually that only happens each day I go into work!! D
  • themasterpiece69
    September 21, 2009
    themasterpiece69
    This is a pretty funny movie.Larry The Cable Guy delivers yet another great performance.I highly recommend this movie to every one of Larry The Cable Guys' fans.
  • clooneyfan
    August 16, 2009
    clooneyfan
    I knew this was going to suck but my husband bought the DVD so I watched it with him. I was right in my assumptin.
  • joshuarainwater
    February 8, 2009
    joshuarainwater
    "Let's make a comedy movie full of superiority humor and star one of the least funny celebrities on the face of the planet." This had to have been Charles Carner's thought process in making this movie. This film follows Larry's pursuit to be an FBI agent and his mishaps in kidnap... read moreping a member of the witness protection program. He, just trying to be a country boy, turns out to be the only honest john amongst crooked cops and conniving royalty. It's entirely predictable, nothing even worth mentioning cinematically and the characters, while well developed, are annoying easily forgettable. Through out the entire movie there were sexual jokes, masturbation jokes, caste jokes, racial jokes, weight jokes, fart jokes, fake accents and horrid acting - need I tell you that Larry The Cable Guy was in it or did you already pick up on it? I neither laughed nor smiled a single time in this comedy and wanted to turn it off so badly. Yet I pressed on in order to accurately review this piece of crap. This is by far the worst 7.5 million dollars Lionsgate ever spent - don't even waste you time.

View All Witless Protection Reviews

Critic Reviews

Ty Burr
February 25, 2008
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

The otherwise genial Witless Protection scrapes bottom whenever a black person or an Asian or an Arab is wheeled on for just-kiddin' laughs. Full Review

Matt Zoller Seitz
February 25, 2008
Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times

In Witless Protection, Larry the Cable Guy plays a small-town deputy, fantasizing about becoming an F.B.I. agent. Sitcom wackiness ensues.

Frank Scheck
February 25, 2008
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter

Makes his previous effort, Delta Farce, seem a classic by comparison.

John Anderson
February 25, 2008
John Anderson, Variety

One can only hope that Witless Protection is targeted at a vanishing species of American Neanderthal. In the meantime, perhaps Larry and his accomplices at Lionsgate could take some sensitivity traning. Full Review

Betsy Sherman
April 23, 2009
Betsy Sherman, Boston Phoenix

It's sad to watch Yaphet Kotto, as the shady fed, clothesline the stereotypical Muslim motel owner who's already been threatened by Larry with a trip to Gitmo. Full Review

Andrew L. Urban
December 20, 2008
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile

Witless, lowbrow fun is the signature of this so-so comedy with Larry the Cable Guy in fine fat form as a country bumpkin deputy sheriff with delusions of grander than smalltown cop Full Review

Austin Kennedy
July 22, 2008
Austin Kennedy, Sin Magazine

The movie doesn't even have the common decency to be under 90 minutes. What a bore.

Larry Ratliff
March 1, 2008
Larry Ratliff, San Antonio Express-News

I've got an idea for Larry the Cable Guy's next dumb movie. Maybe the lowbrow bumbler with the big heart and even bigger beer gut could play, oh I don't know, a cable guy?

Betty Jo Tucker
March 1, 2008
Betty Jo Tucker, ReelTalk Movie Reviews

During the last part of this wacky comedy, it loses the amusing push-pull intimacy between its 'odd-couple' protagonists. Full Review

Jim Lane
February 29, 2008
Jim Lane, Sacramento News & Review

From this kind of witlessness, the only protection is not to see it. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Dirty Love
    Dirty Love (0%)
  • Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector
    Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector (80%)
  • The Cannonball Run
    The Cannonball Run (67%)
  • Smokey and the Bandit
    Smokey and the Bandit (60%)

More Movies like Witless Protection

Facts

Submit a Fact | View All
    • Deputy Larry Stalder: That was a fear fart.
Submit a Fact | View All

Witless Protectio... : Watch Free on TV

Witless Protection Trivia

  • Who is Buttercup in Witless Protection ?  Answer »
  • What is Larry's job in Witless Protection ?  Answer »
  • Who was Elmer holding hostage in Witless Protection ?  Answer »
  • Buttercup was throwing Elmer because she had sores on her back in Witless Protection ?  Answer »
More Witless Protection Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Witless Protection . Want to create one?

Video Clips

Upload a Video |

All Witless Protection Videos

Meet Other Fans

Add Witless Protection to favorites

Recent News

Submit a Story |

View Witless Protection News

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?