I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON! A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 1998 David N. Butterworth
***1/2 stars (out of ****)
You may be familiar with his politically incorrect cartoons and illustrations in publications like the "New York Times," "Vogue," and "Rolling Stone" (you might have seen them in "Penthouse" and "Screw" magazine but are less likely to admit it). Perhaps you've seen his short animated subjects--"Microtoons"--on MTV.
The man in question is cult animator Bill Plympton, and his latest and most ambitious project to date is a full-length animated feature with the provocative title "I Married a Strange Person!" It's Plympton at his most deranged.
Technically speaking a "feature" defines a film of over 34 minutes in length. "I Married a Strange Person!" runs seventy-four and it's easy to see why this is only Plympton's third entry into the feature-length field: he draws each and every frame himself.
Whether or not you've seen anything by this world-renowned artist before, "I Married a Strange Person!" is an eye-opening change of pace for anyone brought up on Road Runner cartoons. Heavy on the sex and violence (in fact, there's not much else, save for a handful of clever, irreverent, and extremely funny songs by Maureen McElheron), this sexy, violent "adult" film tells the often hilarious tale of newlyweds Grant and Kerry.
As the film opens, a pair of coupling birds (there's a lot of coupling in this film, often by inanimate objects) spiral out of control and crash land onto a satellite dish, sending a bolt of energy into the nape of our angular hero.
From this point on Grant, who wears a suit and tie almost exclusively and looks like he was chiseled from a chunk of granite, is blessed with superhuman powers that turn his inner-most thoughts into reality. This makes him feared by his lovely wife and sought after by a megalomaniacal communications mogul, Larson Giles, who sends a slew of heavily armed forces after him following Grant's successful appearance on a late-night comedy show.
Grant and Kerry run, hide, and have sex, all in an effort to thwart their evil oppressors.
That's the story in a nutshell but it plays second fiddle to Plympton's extraordinary imagination and distinctive visual style. The director crams so much into the film's comparatively brief running time that it's actually a little bit exhausting at times; however, among the bang bang bangs and the blam blam blams, Plympton's impeccable sense of comic timing shines through.
"I Married a Strange Person!" isn't rated but its graphic visual style is definitely not for kids. The film's highlight is an outrageous sex sequence in which, among other things, a woman's breasts are squeezed, kneaded, and twisted into balloon animals.
If you're a connoisseur of ultra sex and ultra violence, "I Married a Strange Person!" should satisfy your basic instincts. It's a memorable journey through the tormented, talented mind of Bill Plympton.
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