Parents' Guide to

The Polka King

By Renee Longstreet, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Comic portrait of real-life musician/con artist has cursing.

Movie NR 2018 95 minutes
The Polka King Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 10+

Based on 1 parent review

age 10+

Reminded me of my childhood

I grew up when Jan Lewan was a big name in our area. I remember going to local festivals and how the old ladies would swoon over him as he threw hankies into the audience. I was glad with how accurate it seemed... They made Rhonda's mom meaner than she actually was in real life. But I throughly enjoyed it!

This title has:

Too much consumerism

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (1):

Jack Black, along with a bevy of other vanity-free performers, makes this satiric ode to an oddball scam artist both watchable and entertaining. True, the audience is laughing at, as well as with, the inherent shallowness and obliviousness of the central characters. And the film never deigns to consider the hardships that may have befallen the folks who were willing to fool themselves as easily as Jan Lewan fooled them. Still, The Polka King is one of those "stranger-than-fiction" true life tales that appeals to all of us who are sure we'd never fall for such a glaringly impossible scheme. Or would we? The production is solid; the polka music is, well, polka music, but the creative team is judicious with it, so it goes down easily. A silly, outlandish tale, only more appealing because it (mostly) really happened.

Movie Details

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