BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.0 Alternative Scale: **1/2 out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: December 20, 1996 (wide) Running Length: 1:20 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Profanity, crude language) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Featuring the voices of Mike Judge, Robert Stack, Cloris Leachman, Eric Bogosian, David Spade, Demi Moore, Bruce Willis Director: Mike Judge Producer: Abby Terkuhle Screenplay: Mike Judge and Joe Stillman Music: John C. Frizzell U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures
BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD may well be America's most misunderstood and falsely maligned cartoon. No, I'm not a fan of the MTV show, but I have seen it enough times to recognize that rather than being a proponent of the couch potato society (of which its characters and probably a significant portion of its fan base are card-carrying members), it's a sly attack on it. BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD is sublimely subversive in its approach to the illiterate, glassy-eyed culture that its parent network has helped to develop.
So, while I appreciate the idea of BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD, and, upon occasion, have enjoyed its execution, my feelings about the movie are mixed. An old saying states that too much of anything isn't good, and this is a prime example. Eighty minutes is too long. A half-hour TV program is right for this pair; a full-length animated feature is overkill. I enjoyed the first third of BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA, found myself fidgeting a little throughout the middle segment, and was longing for the closing credits down the home stretch. Simply put, the concept can't support the running length.
The premise is pretty basic. One day, our intrepid heroes, Beavis and Butt-Head (both voiced by series' creator, Mike Judge), discover that their most prized possession, the TV, has been stolen. It's not something that they realize at once, but, after staring blankly at the space where the set used to be, they eventually figure out that something isn't right. In their words, "this sucks more than anything that has sucked before." Once identifying the problem, they come up with a solution. Since they don't have the money to buy a new TV, they decide to take one.
Their quest leads them to a seedy motel, where a grungy looking fellow (uncredited voice of Bruce Willis), mistaking the duo for hit men, offers them $10,000 to "do" his wife. Of course, Beavis and Butt- Head have a different definition of what it means to "do" a woman, and eagerly accept. A bus trip later, they encounter their buxom quarry (uncredited voice of Demi Moore) in Las Vegas, but, before they can carry out their commission, she makes a counter-offer. After planting a secret weapon in Beavis' pants, she lures the boys to Washington D.C., where she plans to sell the weapon. Meanwhile, a gaggle of ATF agents (led by a man who sounds an awful lot like Robert Stack) are tracking Beavis and Butt-Head, thinking that they're actually dangerous criminals.
The are times when BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA is bitingly funny. Aside from the simple fact that Judge is using this medium to make a searing statement about society, these two morons are so stupid that there are times when you just can't help laughing. Beavis and Butt-Head are also the ultimate expression of the backlash against political correctness. They're the WAYNE'S WORLD characters in cartoon form, and, thankfully, they don't they suffer from the "family values" mentality that affects almost every other animated film. That in itself is a refreshing characteristic. The animation isn't polished, but it's the perfect style for these two. They cry out for this sort of crude rendering, and Judge has delivered. No one is ever going to confuse this motion picture with something produced by Disney.
On the cleverness scale, the opening credits sequence, done in MOD SQUAD style, is far above anything else the film has to offer. There are a large number of masturbation, breast, and bodily function jokes (some would argue that this is the point of BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD). These grow progressively less amusing and more tiresome as the film wears on.
I have the feeling that a fair number of BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD viewers don't get the joke. They take the show at face value and don't realize that it's actually mocking them. The basic attraction for this sort of person is similar to what made DUMB AND DUMBER a big hit. BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA isn't likely to capture many new fans -- it's too narrowly focused. Those who have learned to enjoy the duo on MTV (for whatever reason) will welcome this as a holiday treat. Everyone else will have a better time if they stay away.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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