Say It Isn't So (2001)

9% of critics liked it
(103 reviews)
34% of users liked it
(11,777 ratings)

Bobby Farrelly and brother Peter Farrelly continue exploring outrageous premises with this comedy directed by their first assistant director J.B. Rogers. In this wacky spin on the boy-meets-girl tale, Gilly Noble (Chris Klein) enters a sexually charged, passionate love affair with girl of his dreams… More Bobby Farrelly and brother Peter Farrelly continue exploring outrageous premises with this comedy directed by their first assistant director J.B. Rogers. In this wacky spin on the boy-meets-girl tale, Gilly Noble (Chris Klein) enters a sexually charged, passionate love affair with girl of his dreams Jo Wingfield (Heather Graham). After a happy time together, they soon realize that they are brother and sister and quickly break it off. Jo begins a new life elsewhere and Gilly is left heartbroken -- until he learns that Jo is not actually his sister; the incest suggestion was in fact a lie begun by a meddlesome third party. As Gilly travels to meet up with his beloved, he finds out that Jo is engaged to be married to another man; he must put a stop to it, even while everyone still believes he is Jo's sibling and is committing an unnatural act. Say It Isn't So also features Sally Field, Orlando Jones, and Farrelly stalwarts Richard Jenkins and Lin Shaye. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: James B. Rogers
Written By: Peter Gaulke, Gerry Swallow
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Mar 23, 2001 Wide
On DVD: Aug 21, 2001
Studio: 20th Century Fox

Critic Reviews

Reece Pendleton, Chicago Reader
A cringe-inducing flop.
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
This review is written in a state of posttraumatic shock.
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Minus a shred of Farrelly wit.
Jessica Winter, Village Voice
The film elicits not the voluptuous discomfort stirred by the boys' best corporeal shenanigans but creeping embarrassment for everyone on screen.
Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today
But it is so. In fact, it's so-so. As in mediocre.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Stroke jokes, prosthesis jokes, jokes about body hair and smells, and jokes involving the private parts of cows can't keep this one afloat.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
A mediocre comedy about incest.
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com
What we have here is a wannabe-outrageous comedy that flirts with the last taboo but then retreats.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Flat, borderline banal comedy that in theory includes all the ingredients of the Farrelly brothers (who here serve as producers) about the seemingly incestuous relationship between siblings Chris Klein and Heather Graham
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
The Farrelly brothers, Bobby and Peter, are beginning to make the same mistake that the Zucker brothers (Jerry and David, along with Jim Abrahams) made, which was to split up and take increasingly less responsibility for their films.
Wally Hammond, Time Out
Poor timing and muffed set pieces are compounded by implausibility and inconsequence.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
There are few laughs to be had during the running time of Say It Isn't So...
John R. McEwen, Film Quips Online
This movie sinks or swims on its humor, and frankly, the Farrellys don't appear to have been very good swimming instructors.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Avoid like your life depended on it.
Jean Lowerison, San Diego Metropolitan
If it were up to me, I would make sure the Farrellys never made another film, or at least that I never had to see another.
Margaret A. McGurk, Cincinnati Enquirer
Credit goes largely to the charm of Ms. Graham and Mr. Klein, both of whom exude a natural, sunny innocence that contrasts starkly with the naughty incest jokes swirling around them.
Betty Jo Tucker, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
First-time director J. B. Rogers and new screenwriters Peter Gualke and Jerry Swallow appear determined to include as many gross-out scenes as possible at the expense of telling a believable story.
Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
The trash heap of "There's Something About Mary" ripoffs grows a little higher.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Um festival embaraçoso de caretas e gritaria.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
one of the raunchiest, silliest, and, I must admit, stupidest films of the year. Any year.

Read all 20 critic reviews

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)

Featured Audience Ratings

MisterYoda ?

First of all, I was disappointed that the Farrellys didn't take the director's seat on this one. I hate when previews mislead you like that. Nine times out of ten, when you hear the announcer in a trailer say, "from horror master Wes Craven" or something of that… More
First of all, I was disappointed that the Farrellys didn't take the director's seat on this one. I hate when previews mislead you like that. Nine times out of ten, when you hear the announcer in a trailer say, "from horror master Wes Craven" or something of that sort, it means the well-known director is a producer or executive producer in the project, like in this case. But it still has that Farrelly vibe, since J.B. Rogers worked as the A.D. in their previous works. The movie gets off to a slow start. The gags start off pretty lame. And most of the funny parts shown were given away in the previews. We're handed a lot of quirks, but the comedy doesn't quite gel. We have Richard Jenkins as a wheelchair-bound father, who uses excessive profanity through a voice-box. So far, we're pushing the envelope, but the laughs haven't entirely arrived. I have to admit, though, the nipple-piercing scene was very funny. Luckily, that scene wasn't completely given away in the trailers, because quite frankly--it couldn't be shown on network television. The film speeds up the comedy with the arrival of Orlando Jones as a pilot with artificial legs and a Jimmi Hendrix hairdo. For some reason, the Farrellys have an obsession with handicapped characters. Jones is very funny, and brings in the film's biggest laughs. I also think we wander into one-joke territory one time too many. OK, the guy banged his sister. It was funny at first. How many times do we have to hear it repeated in the next gag...and the gag after that...and the gag after that? But the gags improve as we go along, and I got more and more laughs. By the last thirty minutes, I was laughing myself silly! So I wouldn't say this comedy is anywhere near as bad as most people said it was. "Say It Isn't So" isn't the best comedy of the year, but it often delivers. And it's one of the few comedies that gets funnier as it goes along, rather than starting off with a bang and dragging on as it progresses.
♥˩ƳИИ &

This movie was really lame. A waste of film is what I like to call these kinds of movies. I only watched it cause it was the only thing on t.v. on a Sunday. Waste of time. Would have been better off staring at a wall.
Manu G

Very funny jaja! Just comedy to laugh to in case you don't have nothing else to do. Say It Isn't So is touted as being from the Farelly brothers, who wrote and directed the movies Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, and There's Something About Mary. And though they didn't… More
Very funny jaja! Just comedy to laugh to in case you don't have nothing else to do. Say It Isn't So is touted as being from the Farelly brothers, who wrote and directed the movies Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, and There's Something About Mary. And though they didn't write or direct this movie, it certainly has the same elements: charming lead actors (in this case, Heather Graham from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Chris Klein from Election and American Pie) put through all sorts of comic grotesqueries, ranging from having an ear cut off to getting a hand stuck up a cow's rectum. Orphaned dogcatcher Gilly (Klein) and incompetent hairdresser Jo (Graham) fall in love, only to discover that Gilly's long-lost mother is Jo's own white trash momma (played with gusto by Sally Field). Unfortunately, they'd already slept together, so Jo flees in shame to go back to her ex-boyfriend in Beaver, Oregon. But when Jo's real brother shows up, Gilly sets out to win Jo back--only her mom wants her to marry the ex and tells the Beaver police that Gilly is a sexual predator. Say It Isn't So doesn't have the crude wit of There's Something About Mary, but there are several laugh-out-loud moments, and both Graham and Klein are sweet and engaging. Orlando Jones has a zestful turn as a legless seaplane pilot.
Curtis L

This movie's kinda of funny. Heather Graham cuts off Chris Klein's ear, then they fall in love, find out they are siblings, and so on.
Stuart B

Crazy comedy with a lot of moments to make you squirm. An underated classic
Remi L

This movie was so silly, but I enjoyed it
Leo L

Hilarious!