Review: The Simpsons Movie (2007)
The arrival of a Simpsons movie, like the long awaited film incarnation of any pop cultural touchstone, demands a bit of clarification of the tastes of the person reviewing it. So let’s get that out of the way as quick and painlessly as possible. I think that roughly the first dacade of The Simpsons is a defining masterwork of its medium; compulsively rewatchable (one of the most addictively rewatchable things ever created) and unshakably brilliant in timing, character, and comic dread.
The second (almost) decade is basically the opposite of all that, inspiring die hard Simpsonites to utter that most hollow of cop outs: “Well, its still better than anything else on.” No, its not. To risk sounding like Comic Book Guy, modern Simpsons is a sort of betrayal; unfunny, undisciplined, with characters that are replicants of their former selves. Yes, The Simpsons is still funnier than say, Family Guy, but that’s only because the latter is one of the most inexplicably popular pieces of shit to roll off the haystack in recent years.
I figured the debate over The Simpsons Movie would be one of whether or not its competent. To my very pleasant surprise, the debate is whether or not The Simpsons Movie is a legitimate comedy classic. Yes, Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, and the endless collection of writers have done it; after nineteen years, nine of which having been very underwhelming, they have returned the Simpsons to their prime, for 85 minutes of blissful, stoned out, mild anarchy.
The mild in the above is the only disappointment. The Simpsons Movie never becomes the razor sharp, pop culture blitzkreig that the show was at its height. But, but, but it IS just as funny, and for this I will forgive quite a bit. The Simpsons Movie is a broad, specific, free floating burlesque of American indifference to its own corruption, its self-absorption, and in that, we get the hero we deserve, the iconic Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), who, I think, its now very safe to say is one of the most potent creations in all of film or TV comedy.
The Simpsons Movie should also be commended for its remarkable balancing act. There are hundreds of characters here to choose from, and five principle characters and the movie never feels strained or shortchanged or over stuffed. The Simpsons Movie feels effortless, with many blitzed little non-sequiturs that many movies wouldn’t make time for.
There is even a bit of pathos for those of you who remember the slightly more serious Simpsons fondly (that portion of the show was my favorite.) The toll that Homer’s self-destructive idiocy takes on his family is acknowledged, and the scenes are authentic, disarming and, best of all, unexpected. The Simpsons Movie is the biggest surprise of the summer and, for once, that’s good. But, for the record, frogurt is still bad. Or good, I forget.
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