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Director: David Silverman
Starring: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria
After nearly 20 years of television hilarity, the producers of the Simpson’s, the longest running sitcom and pioneer of the now omnipresent animated adult comedy series, have finally decided to make a feature film. My GOD it is about time!!! How it took them this long to realize that people love this quintessential dysfunctional “nuclear family” is beyond me.
It starts with a giant concert that is taking place on a barge floating on lake Springfield. (the concert appropriately sponsored by Duff Beer, Binge Responsibly) After Green Day finishes their set, they make their obligatory “save the environment” statement and nearly get lynched by the overtly socially conscious population of Springfield. It is later discovered that lake Springfield is one of the most polluted places on the planet and Lisa sets out on an eco-friendly crusade to save it. This crusade is met with the same warm welcome that sunk Green Day’s Barge. So with Lisa on a mission and the town telling her to go jump in a lake, literally, Homer, using his brilliant judgment that we have all come to know and love makes a decision that puts the pollution level of Springfield high enough that the EPA feels it is necessary to cover the entire town with a giant glass dome. The town (obviously taking no responsibility for the first 50 years of pollution) does the very American thing and blames the last person to touch it, riots and sends the Simpson’s family into exile. Now Homer must find a way to save the town and win back what little admiration anyone had for him.
Like all of the 300 plus television episodes before it, The Simpson’s movie is absolutely jammed with jokes of all sizes, the super jumbo hit-you-over-the-head slapstick kind, the bathroom humor dick-and-fart-joke kind and then, their famous subtle social commentary satirical kind. The writing is true to form and, even after 20 years, is as fresh as the day they started. None of the characters stray from the paths that Sam Simon and crew placed them on so long ago.
Ever since this series began, some people have had a hard time embracing The Simpsons for several reasons. Some can’t get past the fact that it is animated so they never give it a chance. Others can’t get it through their heads that it is not a kid’s show so they are consistently appalled by the content. The Simpsons is quite simply the best satire of our time and as long as we as a society keep doing stupid things for them to lampoon, it will continue to be absolutely, side-splittingly hysterical. An absolute must-see.
MMM: The Simpsons Movie ****
David Silverman, long associated with The Simpsons, as everything from animator to producer, takes the helm as director (he has directed the TV series, as well) for the big money, I mean big screen version of the popularly-dysfunctional animated TV family. Simpsons creator, Matt Groenig, puts on dual hats as Producer, as well as the lead writer of the largest writing team I have ever seen on a movie. All of the series voice actors are here and all of the regular TV characters put in an appearance, but most of them only get a line or two. All of this creates an 87-minute feature that is more plot-driven than the TV episodes, but is packed with a lot of laughs. The animation is familiar, but more intricately drawn and is brighter with far more vivid colors.
The story is silly, as you would expect, but more focused than in the episodes. Lisa, Bart and Marge all have little subplots going on and drive the main story in some way, but this really is the Homer show. When Homer obliviously turns Springfield into an environmental disaster area (Doh!), President Schwarzenegger decides to trap the town and all of its residents under a giant dome. Homer’s problems are only starting, though. When his friends and neighbors find that he was responsible, the story really takes off.
I will watch the TV Simpsons from time to time, but I am certainly not their biggest fan. However, I have to acknowledge that this big screen episode gave me more laughs than most films. It is packed with funny little lines and images. Most of the series lovers will doubtlessly think that this is the greatest movie since Casablanca (of course, the vast majority of the series lovers have never seen Casablanca), so if you count yourself among the legions of loyal fans, you will likely find this worthy of your time and money. My fear is that its success will subject us to big screen versions of every moderately successful animated TV series in a Hollywood that is increasingly more reluctant to take risks rather than follow green-filled footsteps of the already trodden path.
