Terribly rude. Awfully vulgar. Utterly wonderful.

Rating: 10/10 (1 September 1999)

I've just staggered out of a showing of this movie, and frankly I was shocked. It was vulgar, crude, gratuitously potty-mouthed, full of unnecessary fart gags, and utterly, totally, wonderful. The script was beautiful, with Trey Parker's songs giving it a singalong element that sometimes made me want to burst into spontaneous applause.
Yes, it's rude. It's offensive to some people. But the fact that it's rated 18 here in Ireland (and R in the US) should be a bit of an indicator that it's not for kids - the movie itself is basically a long, sharp poke in the eye to the Moral Majority types who'd have "filth like this" banned. Indeed, the whole plot hangs on this kind of knee-jerk moralising and instinct to blame the media for everything that's wrong. And the very fact that films like this _can_ get made and certified and that the adults they're intended for _can_ go and see them is something to be proud of and to be defended. It may be rude, but it's an act of creative genius, so who cares? It's easy to be try and be funny by swearing a lot and not _actually_ be funny, but it's not easy to write a movie that's basically about the way we _view_ swearing without a lot of... well, a lot of effing and blinding in the process, and this film is all the better for it.
Vive la Resistance!