Nature CallsMovie Reviews

No
Avg. Critic Score: 30 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 50
    The A.V. Club | Noel Murray

    There's nothing wrong with the idea of trying to make a Bad News Bears for the '10s, and Rohal has the comic talent in front of the camera to do the job. In addition to Oswalt and Knoxville, he has Maura Tierney as Knoxville's wife. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times |

    It almost seems like harder work somehow to get this many comedians together and then turn out a movie that is only so fitfully funny. Read full review

  • 40
    Time Out New York | Eric Hynes

    No amount of eccentric Americana (or slyly marginal inventiveness) can salvage this strangely lifeless - and largely laughless - gonzo comedy, which is doomed by a flimsy script, one-dimensional characterizations and distractingly inept child acting. Read full review

  • 40
    New York Daily News | Elizabeth Weitzman

    Surely Patton Oswalt could have leveraged all those accolades from last year's "Young Adult" into a better project than this instantly forgettable comedy. Read full review

  • 40
    Village Voice |

    The unmitigated disaster of the camping trip just stays disastrous, the story never really finding its way from adversity to heroic redemption. Read full review

  • 25
    New York Post | Kyle Smith

    A low-watt, low-wit comedy. Read full review

  • 25
    The Playlist | James Rocchi

    Nature Calls demonstrates yet again that the real question for any bad script is not "Who wrote this garbage?" but, rather, "Who read this garbage and thought it would make a viable way to spend time?" Read full review

  • 20
    The New York Times | Neil Genzlinger

    If the Boy Scouts offered a merit badge for inept filmmaking, Todd Rohal would certainly earn it with Nature Calls, an unwatchably bad movie about a camping trip gone haywire. Read full review

  • 12
    Slant Magazine |

    Writer-director Todd Rohal fills muddled scenes with manic amounts of jokes that all manage to land with a thud. Read full review

View more reviews for Nature Calls on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Forgettable, raunchy scouting comedy isn't for young kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that Nature Calls may center on a scoutmaster and his troop, but it's in no way age appropriate for kids, tweens, or young teens. It starts off with a tender premise -- the adult son of a scout leader wants to follow in his elderly father's footsteps -- but quickly veers into over-the-top territory. There's barely a scene of dialogue without a "f--k" and/or other strong language, there are lots of crude and scatological jokes, and the boys even spot a mysterious naked woman on a motorcycle in the woods. There's also a lot of comedic violence that culminates in a man being blown up and killed in the outdoors.
  • Families can talk about how not all movies featuring minors are actually geared toward kids and teens. How might Nature Calls have been different if kids were the target audience?
  • Is it appropriate for a movie about a group of young kids to feature so many raunchy jokes and strong language? Why or why not?
  • The violence in the movie, even a character's death, is played for laughs. Does it come off as amusing?
The good stuff
  • message true1 Positive messages: Amid all the crass humor are hints of messages about honoring your parents and sticking to something you commit to even when it's tough.
  • rolemodels true1 Positive role models: Nobody is a particularly positive role model in the movie, but at least Randy is interested in helping the boys in his troop and honoring/admiring his father's legacy as a life-changing troopmaster.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Lots of slapstick and comedic violence, but the fact that an elderly man literally blows up isn't as funny as the movie makes it seem. The boys get a lot of scrapes from roughing it, as do the dads trailing after them (cars crash, kids fall, and there are a lot of bruises to go around), but it's all played for laughs.
  • sex false4 Sexy stuff: A mysterious naked woman rides a motorcycle through the woods; a few references to sex and women's bodies.
  • language false4 Language: Frequent strong language includes "f--k," "motherf--ker," "s--t," "a--hole," "p---y," "d--k," "jackass," and a lot of other insults hurled Randy's way.
  • consumerism false2 Consumerism: Video games, cars and televisions, as well as a bunch of recognizable minivans (Hondas, Toyotas, Chryslers), are seen.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Adults drink and smoke on a regular basis.
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