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Overall Rating
 Awesome: 34.62%
Worth A Look: 48.08%
Average: 13.46%
Pretty Bad: 1.92%
Total Crap: 1.92%
4 reviews, 28 user ratings
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| Private Parts |
by Chris Parry
"If you want Howard to burn in hell, see this movie."
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Let's get this right out of the way early on. I'm a Stern fan. I don't think he's the funniest man ever, but he has a good mix of morons, geeks, nymphos and whores on his radio show, which for mine is what entertainment is all about.I've also read his books. Private Parts was immensely funny, if a bit of a jack-off. Miss America was God-awful. A capitalisation on a burst of popularity.
So when Private Parts came to the big screen, amidst a shower of hype and publicity, and with a middle-aged female director in charge of the world's most famous pervert, I was prepared for it to suck royally.
Well it didn't. At least it didn't suck royally. It wasn't the laugh-riot that the book was and it wasn't gut-wrenchingly dramatic, but it didn't suck.
The story goes... Howard's a geek in college, he hooks up with a glamor, marries her, chases his dream of becoming a DJ, makes it by being edgy, then has to fight the naysayers and fanatics to stay in business, freedom of speech to all, yay team.
And the story is told well. It doesn't centre too much on humor, drama or romance, but it has a good mix of the three. It portrays Stern not as an evil man, but rather a man about a decade ahead of his time. An innovator, rather than an imitator, even if he does rely on shock value.
The problem I see with this movie is that it stops halfway. Howard's career has gone a lot further and taken a lot more twists than was outlined in the film. Indeed, the book the film was based on covers the latter day stuff, but the film falls way short. This might have been an attempt to leave something for a sequel or it might have just been a case of covering a short story well, instead of covering a whole story badly.
So the questions to ask yourself are these.
Will I laugh? Yes, you shall laugh.
Will I cry? No, you shall not.
Will I be subjected to endless topless lesbians? Not nearly enough.Is it worth renting? Absolutely, even if you're not a Howard fan. It might just give you an insight into why he does what he does. Or it might just keep you busy for a few hours. Either way, worth a look.
 del.icio.us 
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=293&reviewer=1
originally posted: 09/06/98 02:02:33
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USA
07-Mar-1997 (R)
DVD: 15-Dec-1998
UK
N/A
Australia
N/A
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