Beavis et Butt-Head se font l'Amérique

I know a lot of you who have never seen Beavis and Butthead probably think very little of the show based on the low-brow nature of it (I was one of them), but if you give this movie a chance you'll see that it's actually as well written and at times as, dare I say, subtle as King of the Hill.

Beavis and Butthead have their TV stolen and when trying to get it back are mistaken for hit men by drunken drunk Muddy Grimes (Bruce Willis, as I was rather shocked to find out once the credits rolled), who sends them on a mission to 'do his wife' Dallas. Misinterpreting this as any horny teenagers would, B+B head to Las Vegas to carry out the terrible act. But we discover (they don't, however) that Dallas and Muddy are part of international weapons conspiracy and our two teen-aged heroes are being set-up to take the blame.

So, as they take off across the country, causing absolute mayhem wherever they go, the ATF closely follow, giving full body cavity searches to everyone and anyone they meet at the order of head honcho Agent Flemming (the late Robert Stack), who comes out with some brilliant, deadpan one-liners. The set-pieces are wonderful and the mushroom-induced dream sequence by Rob Zombie looks amazing.

Mike Judge's animation style also brilliant. Avoiding bright, primary colors used in shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy and Futurama, he uses mainly softer colors, pencil-effect scenery and water-color backgrounds. It's a sort of calming, easy-going animation style that he's totally made his own.

You should totally check-out this movie. Don't be put off by what you may have heard or may think of Beavis and Butthead. You'll be conning yourself out of loads of laughs if you do.

And look-out for Daria Morgendorfer in the 'Lesbian Seagull' scene.

"Beavis and Butthead Do America" is filled with vulgar humour, sadistic or otherwise bizarre characters and a convoluted plot insane enough to make no sense. These are some of the movie's finer qualities. If you didn't like the main duo to begin with then this will do nothing to convince you otherwise. But why should it?

Mike Judge has managed to fill out the 75 or so minutes well without making it drag, and he's done it with style. Since he cannot change the simplistic, constantly sniggering leads he has done the most logical thing he could by surrounding them with a plethora of multi-faceted characters tied together with a conspiracy plot that takes them into other locations where their simple-but-effective double-entendre humour can flourish. Previous characters make a return and are given some development where relevant to the plot.

It all starts inauspiciously enough - the hard rock obsessed teenagers awake one day, still on their couch, to find their beloved television is missing. Not smart enough to put the pieces of the puzzle together to catch the thieves in the act, they try and steal one from their school. Wandering around town ever more desperate, they somehow manage to usurp the television thieves, but not in the way you might expect. This lands them right in the thick of it, and the unassuming pair make their way through. Hilarity ensues on a regular basis.

In my opinion as a would-be critic, we need more films like these. Certainly there are plenty of gross-out movies, some of them also animated (as a side note the animation here is a nice balance between the original show and something more polished) but there are few that can take simple toilet humour and dress it up so well, making it more than just a guilty pleasure to enjoy after a few beers and/or a joint. This is right up there with the finer moments of South Park for such an achievement, and can easily be considered Beavis and Butt-Head's crowning moment of funny and/or awesome.

Overall this is a fun, feelgood comedy which doesn't require all your brainpower to enjoy to the fullest, though an extra watch or two might throw up a few sight gags or subplot references that you missed the first time around for whatever reason(!) The plot seems somehow relevant too, considering that it also deals with an issue that has been a headline grabber in post-9/11 society. But not without a couple of sniggers along the way, of course.

7 stars out of 10: very, very good.

As much as I love Beavis and Butthead, I never thought they would truly find their way in a feature film. However, they manage better than I expected. The plot may not be good enough to stay interesting throughout, but the dry wit makes up for it all. I was expecting to have a complete burn-out from all the typical trademarks the show brought us, but these guys just make it all so bearable, they can get away with a lot of otherwise groan-inducing moments. The double entendres are really coming from all sides here (heh, I said coming), and still they get me every time. Why do I laugh at a line like "he said anus"? Because it's pretty goddamn funny, probably. Of course this movie also entertains because it's such an outcast among movies, much like the show was an outcast among shows. This is just not like anything I've ever seen, it has an extra quality I can't put my finger on. As far as adaptations of famous cartoons go, this ranks pretty high.

I remember reading Roger Ebert's review of this review and how profound it was. He remarked that it's mistakenly thought that "Beavis And Butt-Head" is a show that takes pride in the stupidity of its main characters and this wasn't the message. He said, "I believe Mike Judge would rather die than share a taxi ride to the airport with his characters...". These are guys you're supposed to laugh at, not with. They are manifestations of creator Mike Judge's anger at ignorant people. They're not relatable at all, although I guess they're not technically bad people.

I've seen some episodes of the newer show and this was quite faithful to it. The animation does seem to be the same as the TV show. What matters is that this movie has a lot of great lines and jokes and that's what it's made for. I was kind of getting a Blues Brothers vibe from this as it features two guys causing all this trouble around the country, including a car pile-up. I didn't root for them like I did the Blues Brothers, oh no. That would again, be missing the point. ***

Animated MTV characters Beavis and Butt-Head made their feature film debut with this very funny movie that actually does a good job of sustaining itself for 81 minutes, with a pretty good story and plenty of the kind of humour that us B & B fans love so much. It's gleefully lowbrow stuff, and that's just the way we like it.

Our favourite antisocial horn dog teenagers wake to discover that the most important item in their lives, their TV set, has been stolen, and their search leads them to a shady character named Muddy (voiced by Bruce Willis). Muddy offers them $10,000 to do his wife Dallas (voice of Demi Moore), and B & B readily accept after misinterpreting the word "do". They become embroiled in an elaborate plot to steal a powerful biological weapon, all while following the quintessential B & B agenda: trying to score!

B & B's assorted adventures include making life miserable for cranky old neighbor Tom Anderson, causing havoc at places such as the Hoover Dam, the appearance of the legendary Cornholio (who, of course, just needs TP for his bunghole), encountering two very familiar looking former Motley Crue roadies, hallucinating in the desert, and having some eventful plane and bus rides. (It's just so priceless that B & B, upon seeing that they'll be on a bus full of nuns, can't see past the fact that their fellow passengers are chicks.) The colourful cast of characters also includes Agent Flemming (in an inspired bit of casting, Robert Stack voices this part), an ATF agent obsessed with cavity searches. Cloris Leachman plays the aged "slut" on the plane & bus, and Eric Bogosian, Richard Linklater, and David Letterman (billing himself as Earl Hofert) round out the various pop culture figures supplying voices.

And everything is set to a kick ass soundtrack that begins with a "Shaft" style number co-written by Isaac Hayes and B & B creator Mike Judge. Other artists heard include the Red Hot Chili Peppers, White Zombie (Rob Zombie also supplies the artwork for the hallucination sequence), AC/DC, Rancid, LL Cool J, Ozzy Osbourne, and Butthole Surfers.

If you're a fan of the TV series, you're sure to enjoy "Beavis & Butt-Head Do America". It's extremely agreeable from start to finish, and doesn't overstay its welcome. It delivers more laughs than a lot of live-action comedies.

Eight out of 10.