PRIVATE PARTS
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1997 Scott Renshaw
(Paramount/Rysher) Starring: Howard Stern, Robin Quivers, Mary McCormack, Fred Norris, Paul Giamatti. Screenplay: Len Blum and Michael Kalesniko. Producer: Ivan Reitman. Director: Betty Thomas. MPAA Rating: R (profanity, nudity, sexual situations, adult themes, drug use) Running Time: 110 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
The sum total of my direct familiarity with Howard Stern, including the 110 minutes of PRIVATE PARTS, now stands at about 114 minutes. Before seeing the film I had not read his book, had never heard his radio program, and seen him only in passing as a guest on T.V. talk shows or on his own E! Entertainment Television program. I knew Stern only indirectly, as a much-reviled icon of all things excessive and an object of adoration for devoted fan base, but I did not know enough about him to have a real opinion. I suspect that mine was the best possible point of entry for PRIVATE PARTS, because I was expecting neither to hate it nor to revel in vulgarity. Without the burden of preconceptions, I was free to laugh myself silly at a completely unexpected delight. It's hard to say who may be more surprised at PRIVATE PARTS -- Stern's fans or his detractors -- because it is funny in almost every possible way: at times goofy and low key, at times undeniably outrageous.
Based on Stern's best-selling 1993 autobiography, PRIVATE PARTS stars Stern as himself in the story of his own life. Beginning with Stern's childhood in New York, the film traces his interest in radio from an early age to his study of communication at Boston University. There Stern meets Alison (Mary McCormack), the woman of his dreams who becomes his wife and devoted supporter. That support is necessary through tough early deejay jobs in upstate New York, Hartford and Detroit, where Stern develops a conventional on-air persona. It isn't until he gets a plum job in Washington D.C. that Stern invents his more shocking style, and becomes an instant ratings sensation. That success wins him a spot at New York's WNBC, but the management, including program director Kenny Rushton (Paul Giamatti), is determined to rein in the often-offensive Howard.
The savvy edge of PRIVATE PARTS really should not have been a surprise considering Betty Thomas was in the director's chair. Thomas previously did sharp work with THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE and HBO's talk show wars docu-comedy THE LATE SHIFT, proving herself adept with the worlds of media and pop culture, and she manages to put a surprising amount of energy into scenes of people sitting around talking into microphones. Some of those scenes are simply brilliant, including the attempt by a flustered Kenny (a wonderfully slimy performance by Paul Giamatti) to stop Stern's broadcast of an off-color parody of "Match Game." Thomas' most impressive achievement, however, may be taking a group of radio personalities -- including Stern's cohorts Robin Quivers and Fred Norris -- and putting them in situations where they could be comfortable. Norris in particular has some hilarious moments, notably in a sequence in a B-movie actress's hotel room where he steals every scene hardly saying a word.
Then there is Stern himself, who proves, if nothing else, that he is an extraordinarily canny manipulator of his own image. For those who think of him as an evil lecher, PRIVATE PARTS offers a portrait of Stern as a devoted family man whose reverence for his wife borders on idolatry; for those who think of him as the self-aggrandizing, self-proclaimed "King of All Media," PRIVATE PARTS offers the humbling vision of Howard the adolescent geek, strolling through the '70s with a Mike Brady perm and a cheesy moustache. Most notably, PRIVATE PARTS offers those who consider Stern's routines mean-spirited the chance to watch him as he performs, grinning at his own naughtiness like a gangly Benny Hill. It may not be a tremendous challenge to make an acting debut playing yourself, but Stern makes the character he plays something you might never expect: charming.
Is the Howard Stern of PRIVATE PARTS the _real_ Howard Stern? Probably not. There's certainly a contradiction between Stern's announcement to Alison prior to the emergence of the now-recognizable Stern persona that he's going to "be myself," and the disingenuous suggestion that he's just playing a character on the air; the truth probably exists somewhere in the middle. It does grow a bit tiresome hearing Howard bemoan how misunderstood he is, and the film slows down considerably whenever he feels obliged once again to show us his sensitive side. PRIVATE PARTS is much funnier when Stern laughs at himself, or when he does the things that make other people laugh at him. Still, it's no easy trick to please Stern's fans while placating his enemies, and PRIVATE PARTS serves up raunchiness and bad taste in a slick and snappy package. No matter how much of Howard Stern you've seen, this is a Howard Stern you haven't seen.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 radio waves: 8
Visit Scott Renshaw's MoviePage http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~srenshaw Subscribe to receive reviews directly via email See details on the MoviePage
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews