Pushing the envelope?

Rating: 8/10 (7 July 1999)

Hardly! Trey Parker and Matt Stone have shredded the proverbial envelope with the release of "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut." The film is raunchy, obscenity-laden, and DEFINITELY NOT FOR KIDS. It's also a side-splitting piece of fine work from the stars of "BASEketball," who are also responsible for "Orgazmo," and "Cannibal: The Musical."
Contrary to early rumors about what the film was about, Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman do NOT get whisked off to military school. They do find themselves in the middle of a militaristic crisis started and fueled by Kyle's mom, after the boys sneak into a screening of the latest film by their favorite flatulent Canadian duo, Terrance and Phillip. Practically no one is spared in this movie, as far as satire is concerned, and you'll be rolling in the aisles if you can recognize the parallels that Parker and Stone draw between life and art. Despite the cursing, fart jokes, and Broadway-style musical numbers, the film is truly a serious look at the seemingly downward spiral of American society.
I've been a fan of the "South Park" TV show, though I have yet to see some of the later episodes. I waited for this movie with bated breath, and it exceeded my expectations. "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut" is "South Park" in its purest form; everything that Trey Parker and Matt Stone originally intended it to be.
A final commentary: "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut" deserved an NC-17 much, much more than "Orgazmo," which did actually get an NC-17. It's disturbing that children as young as 7 have been in attendance at "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut," even accompanied by an adult. I'd like to see parents try to explain away some of the raunchier bits, like Saddam Hussein's, ahem, artificial prostheses, and the giant, er, pink bit, that Stan encounters. But I suppose that's one of the points that Parker and Stone are trying to make...