4/5 Little Wonder Why Russian Literature Isn't For Everyone
  by Francis X Segura
You must be a devout Mel Brooks fan to sit through this story. Yeah, ok, so now that I've done that would I watch this film again? Probably not. BUT... I have seen it and that's what's important. I'd say Mel Brooks got all he could from the original Russian story, and from the actors. I'd watch the movie again just to see Ron Moody's scene as a stage actor. And to see Frank Langella so early in his career, there's no indication of Richard Nixon in his future. Maybe Dracula. And yet, this film refuses to drift away from my recent memory as simply another film. I suspect at sometime, somewhere, someone will bring up this Brooks film, and I'll mention I have a copy. At that time, it will be viewed again.

4/5 Hope for the best, expect the worst!
  by Randy E. Halford (Boise, ID)
"The Twelve Chairs" is a curious choice for Mel Brooks' second directorial feature film. After the manic & controversial "The Producers", Brooks tells the story (sort of) of an old Russian folk tale about a woman revealing to a humble clerk (Ron Moody, walking the fine line between pathos & hysteria in this one) on her deathbed that the family fortune of jewels has been sewn into one of the dining room chairs. The catch: Since the Russian regime has turned into the Soviet Union, that dining room set has been scattered across the country. The plot thickens when a tall, dark & handsome young opportunist (Frank Langella) learns of the secret & forces the clerk into a partnership to find the chairs. Dom DeLuise--wonderfully funny, as usual--is a priest who becomes a direct rival in finding the fortune.
Brooks obviously had a soft spot for this old story, which doesn't go in for wild sight gags or profanity; it's humor rests on the modest simplicity of life in the Old Country. But this is a comedy, and Brooks sprinkles touches of the trademark slapstick & skill with funny dialogue everywhere. After an exhaustive race to find the fortune, the film concludes with an inevitable lesson: Life is full of disappointments; just be happy you're alive (guess I kind of spoiled the ending!). Chronologically sandwiched between the joyous hysteria of "The Producers" & the uproarious satire of "Blazing Saddles", "The Twelve Chairs" is a more modest but sweet & amusing little gem.

4/5 delightful Brooks film
  by Eleanor Rigby
The Twelve Chairs is an entertaining short parody of a Russian film by a similar name. With a feel more like Brooks' "The Producers" (1968) rather than "Blazing Saddles" or "Spaceballs," the movie is appropriate for the whole family.

1/5 wrong code
  by A. Kalogeropoulos (Athina,Hellas)
When I received the movie i realized that it wouldn't play in my DVD player because in USA they have a different code - as they do in almost everything due to their foolish need to be different from the rest of the world. So I haven't seen the movie yet, I'm waiting for a professional to change the code.
Anazon should have told me of the different country code between USA and the rest of the world.

1/5 Terrible
  by JDavid (Salinas, CA USA)
This film not only fails to be even moderately funny but is also extremely offensive as a blatant piece of Marxist propaganda. It is one of the worst films I have seen in 2009. The only positive comment I can make is that Ron Moody does a pretty fair job in his role as the disgustingly selfish one-time nobleman.

There is a stereotype that Hollywood is dominated by leftist political beliefs. I have seen plenty of evidence in its celebration of revolutionary causes and its attacks on American patriotism, traditional morality and religious faith. But I have never viewed such a brainless affirmation of Communist Russia as this film. The film is based on a Soviet Russian story and is faithful as a Stalinist film director would have been in its rendition. A former nobleman and a priest are the leads, and both are portrayed as greedy, stupid and corrupt. Their twisted characters are the premise of the movie. Mel Brooks appears to have read his Lenin and Stalin with childlike approval.

Avoid this movie unless you are particularly fascinated with the political idiocy of elements of the American film industry.