The Simpsons Movie
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hour, 27 minutes
Directed by: David Silverman
Starring:
Dan Castellaneta - Homer Simpson, Krusty the Clown, et al.
Julie Kavner - Marge Simpson, Patty, Selma
Nancy Cartwright - Bart Simpson, Maggie Simpson, Nelson, et al.
Yeardley Smith - Lisa Simpson
Harry Shearer - Mr. Burns, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, et al.
Among those who would call themselves fans of the long-running TV series The Simpsons, there are generally two things agreed upon: 1) The show is no longer good (when this happened is debatable but most agree it certainly happened before season fourteen) and 2) The show used to be magnificent (although the exact time of this is also debatable but most agree that it was after season one but before season ten). For a show that’s literally been around for an entire generation (the 19th season begins this fall), a film that’s been possible ever since those wide-spread popularity days of the mid-90s now finally comes to the big screen when most former fans have abandoned the property. The result is a film that’s wacky enough to be constantly funny for an hour and a half and reminds us why we loved this family in the first place, yet it never reaches that sly brilliance of its apex.
Because the film has ninety minutes to tell a story, every Simpson (well, except maybe Maggie) gets a storyline as opposed to the show which usually follows one Simpson or one supporting cast member living with the Simpsons. Homer ends up making his biggest blunder yet when his selfishness and stupidity end up getting the town encased in a giant dome as an act of quarantine by the sinister forces of the Environmental Protection Agency. The film makes a few quick jabs at our modern culture but nothing as slicing as their satirical sister, Futurama. The movie features mostly madcap humor that satirizes big screen action and feature-length animated movies, yet the film is never intended as a parody as much as its trying to honestly rejuvinate the characters.
While I believe that part of the show’s downfall has come in the form of gimmicky permanent changes (Maude’s death, Patty is gay) that smack of a show still trying to be relevant; the overuse of one-note characters like Moe and Nelson; and the show’s inevitible rise in self-referrential humor as new writers eventually come from a group who literally grew up watching the show they now write for. Others have noted that the family has also become a perversion of their former selves. Homer has gone from stupid to mean; Bart’s too cavalier in his rebelliousness, Lisa is irritatingly liberal, and Marge is an oddball whenever the writer feel like they’ve used Homer too much.
Thankfully, most of those flaws vanish in the film as these characters once again become a group worth cheering for and that their lovably functional in their dysfunction. While I doubt the film will rejuvinate the show, it certainly doesn’t serve as yet another insult to fans, like myself, who were forced to give up on the show many years ago. While this review may seem to be damning it with faint praise, it really is a consistently funny movie that falls just a bit short of being on the level of episodes from the show’s golden age.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
7.28.07