Dan's Papers - August 10, 2007 - Guy de Fraumeni's Hollywod In The Hamptons

Doh! Or rather, Dough! Money is The Simpsons Movie's prime reason for being. Even Homer derides the audience at the opening of the wide screen engorgement, as being suckers for paying to watch something they can get free on TV. His joke is more precise than it is ironic. The movie, like the ongoing almost 20-year sitcom, delivers as many laughs per minute as the small screen, caustic commentary on American life, but does the blockbuster-size screen hold more? It does offer broad, panoramic overviews of Springfield, the homely town where Homer and other bizarre denizens (funnily, similar to our own neighbors) replay their lives day by surprisingly eventful day. Also, as never before seen, the calamitous sight of Bart in full-frontal nudity is revealed. No, the big screen does not aggrandize Bart's manliness. However, the length to which the feature film goes - 88 minutes as opposed to it's usual 23 minutes - might have the hardcore TV audience running out for snacks or restroom visits. Do you get your money's worth? "The Simpsons" devotees will say that it does not reach the peak of favorite episodes. For many, there's not enough Krusty the Clown and other minor complaints that do not add up to a hill of beans or their whoopee cushion reactions.

The movie's core is Al Gore and his environmental concerns. Another of Homer's Homeric blunders has him dumping his pet pig's waste into Springfield's lake. The pig's pollution potency is so awful that it reaches global proportions. As l'il Lisa puts it, "It's an irritating truth." The new American leader of the free, jeopardized world, President Arnold Schwarzenegger, has to have Springfield isolated under a dome. Marge whips out a needlepoint "Dome Sweet Dome." Naturally, the Environmental Protection Agency, run by an evil billionaire nearly destroys Springfield. Chaos preys as Lisa grows a crush on a cute enviro-boy. Ned Flanders, the pious creationist prays. There's plenty of big trouble but the Bible is of no help. "This book doesn't have any answers," cries Homer. Marge has a big, heated bedroom scene with Homer. Family tensions rise to a din that can't be covered by Homer's head noise, the clinky-de-clink of a windup monkey's cymbals. He's off on a motorcycle. He puts together a team of sled dogs. The family should move to Alaska, he insists, "Alaska. Where you can't be too fat or too drunk." Marge makes another needlepoint, "Nome Sweet Nome."

Ah, yes, the iconic Simpsons family simply keep plugging along. Their persistence is held together because they stick together. Through thick and thin and from one corny old joke to the next, the Simpsons come through with the biting pop cultural comments that strike with flinty brilliance like a wooden match. A light goes on over your head and you stretch back with a satisfied, "Ah, yes," as when President Schwarzenegger steadfastly states, "I was elected to lead, not to read." They approach each hypocritical screw up with the same embrace they give loaded-with-fat foods. They devour it and push on to next excessive tidbit of Americana. Homer's boorish ways and totally clueless faltering abilities rely on his assurance that The Family is indestructible. Even the binky-sucking, nonverbal child Maggie is a mainstay. Lisa's intelligence reminds them of the real world. Marge expresses the real concern and suffers. Grandpa is every old senior and expresses it vociferously as when he keels over in church in a fit of religious fervor. Bart is spectacularly brazen, sassy, ego-full of daring. Their nutsy dog is also a reluctant but committed family member even as a lynch mob makes a stop at the Rent-A-Pitch-Fork shop on their way to...No! I cannot illegally download the movie's plot.

I cannot give away the family's trip to Alaska where they encounter a tap dancing penguin (a sharp right jab to our tastes) or the momentous events of Green Day. Or, an "Itchy & Scratchy" skit that gets the malevolent mouse to the top of the Democratic Presidential ticket - "Itchy & Hillary 2008." You have to be there for all the zany truths as America's cultural barometer, The Simpsons Movie, unleashes its happy load of irreverence and heart pounding sentimentality. Or, you can tune it in for free at home.

Guy Jean de Fraumeni is the producer/writer/director of award winning European and American feature films. He has been a judge at Major Film and TV award competitions, including the Oscars, the Emmy's and various film festivals. Sarah Halsey assists him.