South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut (1999)
Grade: A-
Voice Cast: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Mary Kay Bergman, Isaac Hayes
Director: Trey Parker
Rated R for pervasive vulgar language and crude sexual humor, and for some violent images


"South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut" is one of the funniest, bravest, most biting satires of the past decade, an animated celebration in raunch that is really a lot more than a celebration in raunch. The filmmakers, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, are doing more than just showing us kids who say ‘fuck’ a lot. What they’re really doing is giving themselves an opportunity to take fierce satiric aim at some of the most deserving targets in the public spotlight. And they hit their targets with such an incisive brilliance that the film is both undeniably intelligent and righteously funny. Now THERE’S a rare combination.

The plot goes like this: little Stan, Kenny, Cartman, and Kyle bribe a homeless man to buy them a ticket to the R-rated movie "Asses of Fire," starring their Canadian idols, Terrance and Philip. They learn new four-letter words previously unknown to their already dirty minds, and go to school repeating them in sentences so profane they’d make the "Blair Witch" troop blush. The mothers get angry and sentence Terrance and Philip to death. In retaliation, Canada bombs the home of the Baldwin brothers. This all starts a war between the U.S. and Canada, and a subplot involves Kenny, in hell, learning that Satan is getting plenty of sex from a recently dead Saddam Hussein, but none of the meaningful relationship he *really* wants. Still, the two plan to go together to earth as they take over—the death of Terrance and Philip will trigger the apocalypse.

The film is a musical, and some of the funniest songs my ears have ever heard appear in this movie. Each time a new song starts up, you may groan at the idea of yet another song, but it nearly always blindsides the audience with its hilarity to the point that complaints aren’t necessary. My favorites? “Blame Canada” and "Kyle's Mom Is A Big Fat Bitch," although picking a favorite is unfair to the others.

This all appears to be a continuously vulgar exhibit for pure discrimination against races, sexes, religions, handicaps, those who are famous, those who are not, and anything else that moves. But "South Park" is much, much smarter than that. Sure, those jokes are hilarious (when talking about women, a character says, “I’m sorry, I just don’t trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn’t die”), but the film is really about how exaggerated our current culture is—in the vulgarity of movies, in the reactions of children who see them, in the anger at the movies from mothers, and at the eventual protests. "South Park" walks a fine comedic tightrope, but it crosses successfully. It proves that a good comedy can become a great film if it has a point and message. It manages to simultaneously be (more or less) as funny as "There’s Something About Mary" and as thematically juicy as "The Truman Show." An odd combination, sure, but a combination that ends up being no less than satisfying.

Fans of the show will be glad to know that all of the show’s characters are present (although often their roles are not as prominent as in the Comedy Central cartoon). Many of the show’s traditions are held up here—the kids curse, insult Kyle’s mom, and Kenny dies.

Other than that it made me laugh until I was almost in tears, and that it viciously but brilliantly tears apart every target it sets its sight on, there isn’t much to say about "South Park" that hasn’t already been said. I vigorously recommend it, but not if you’re easily offended. If you are, watching this film is like someone with acrophobia going on an airplane—it ain’t a good idea.


-Alex, July 2002