Reception
The movie was received with mostly negative criticism. Rotten Tomatoes shows a freshness rating of 41%, and Metacritic's average review score is 36 out of 100. The film was also heavily criticized by anarchists, who charged that, aside from its poor cinematic qualities, it presented caricatures of anarchist characters and philosophy, which amounted to anti-anarchist propaganda. Negative reviews for the film appeared in anarchist publications, including a scathing review in Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed, by Lawrence Jarach:
Despite the title and the pretensions of the characters' self-images, the plain fact is that there are no anarchists in this film... This film could have been funny if there weren't so many stupid prejudices about anarchism/anarchists in it. It could have been mildly entertaining if there had been even one sympathetic character in it. It could have been provocative if there had been even one remotely intelligent discussion of anarchism anywhere in it. But this stupid video can't be used to point out anything worthwhile--politically or cinematically.
Green Anarchy magazine also published a review of the film with a similar critique:
The Anarchist Cookbook paints a cartoon-like picture of a so-called "anarchist" scene in Dallas, Texas. To be blunt, there are no anarchists in the film... To put it simply, this film is a pathetic stereotype of anarchists, meant to make us look stupid. While there are some very embarrassing people in the anarchist "movement", this is absurd... It's only worth mentioning because it is out in the mainstream, and promotes a misconception we'll have to deal with. As stereotypes go, I would much prefer the armchair intellectual or bearded bomb-thrower to that of Beavis and Butthead.
Read more about this topic: The Anarchist Cookbook (film)
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