SOUTH PARK: BIGGER, LONGER AND UNCUT *** (out of five stars) A review by Jamey Hughton
Voices of-Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Isaac Hayes Director-Trey Parker Rated-18A
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As South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut opens, the citizens of the famous mountainside town are celebrating life's good fortune. The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the friendly inhabitants are smiling gleefully as they skip down the street to an upbeat tune. Enter the foursome of Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny, the infamous group of elementary school children that the TV show is based upon. They see an ad bearing the names of their favorite fart-lighting duo of Terrance and Phillip, who are appearing in their very first feature length movie (a Canadian production). And so they venture forth to the local cineplex, where they are shamefully turned down from seeing this graphic, R-rated feature. After bribing a homeless man to accompany them as their `parental guardian', the boys make it in to watch the movie, unaware that the profane language they learn will soon thereafter destroy their quiet and peaceful town.
South Park is a TV show that grew immensely popular on Comedy Central. Mostly, of course, with the less demanding younger viewers, who found the idea of swearing and offensive cardboard children to be just their cup of tea. Now that co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are free of their television rating confines, they have pushed the envelope as far as it can possibly go. The South Park movie is more raunchy, vulgar and repeatedly crude than anything you have probably ever seen. The obscenities flow so consistently that unwilling viewers may be scarred for life, left to babble on in profane gibberish. The reason the film exists is that Parker and Stone can take revenge on the MPAA (that's the Motion Picture Association of America), with whom they've experienced a complicated past. But, they won't stop there.
How many groups, minorities and individuals does the South Park movie stab in the back? With the exception of the MPAA, there is (*ahem*) black people, Jewish people, gay people, Anne Murray, Celine Dion, Jar Jar Binks, the Baldwin brothers, Saddam Hussein, Brian Boitano, Bill Gates, Barbara Streisand, and most blatantly of all: Canada! Parker and Stone have cross-referenced all the inventive ways to make fun of we Canadians, from speech patterns to flag-wearing and beyond. It would be advisable for anyone who is easily offended to avoid this film, at ALL costs.
But back to the plot. After the South Park children begin to utter shocking four-letter words as part of their regular vocabulary, the mothers take action. Forming MAC (Mothers Against Canada), they take their case to President Clinton, forcing him to proclaim war on the neighboring country for polluting the American children's minds with their obscene movie productions. Terrance and Phillip are thereby scheduled to be executed, with a pre-celebrity bash including Winona Ryder and Big Gay Al. The South Park children decide to band together, stop the bloodbath, and save the lives of their acting icons before all is lost.
Let me first say that I laughed. Lord help me, I nearly busted a gut during some uproarious musical numbers. Yes, in case you didn't know already, the South Park movie is basically a feature-length animated musical. The lyrics are often side-splitting and many of the songs have an enjoyable beat, especially the re-enactment of the widely cherished `Kyle's Mom's a B--ch', performed with eager enthusiasm by Cartman himself. As a sub-plot, Kenny sets himself on fire while attempting to light his own fart, and descends to hell. There he meets Satan, who is having a heated affair with none other than Saddam Hussein. For such (intentionally) crummy animation, there are some impressive computer-generated visuals down below. Unfortunately, this and many other offensive scenarios are almost too eager to cross the line into disgusting vulgarity. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut nearly received an NC-17 from the MPAA, and for good reason; this film is not for young audiences.
While a half-hour episode is nicely filling, the 90-minute movie begins to lose fuel as it nears the conclusion. But some sequences are so hilarious, and some pop culture references so cleverly placed, you just have to appreciate the effort. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut breaks every rule in the book, and if you have the courage, you just might find it entertaining.
(C) 1999, Jamey Hughton
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