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Released without a rating and billed as "the most vile, disgusting, and vulgar" film of all time,The Aristocratsis also funny enough to qualify as a minor comedy classic. We say "minor" only because hearing the same foul joke told by 100 celebrated comedians is inevitably exhausting, even though the shaggy-dog gag (a vintage in-joke among comedians, allowing outrageously obscene improvisation, and always ending with the same titular punchline) is also a fascinating litmus test for each comedian's irreverent style. As codirectors and show-biz insiders, veteran comedians Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette (from the comedy duo Penn&Teller) corralled an unprecedented parade of stand-up celebrities (George Carlin, Robin Williams, Drew Carey, Whoopi Goldberg, Sarah Silverman, theSouth Parkkids and many, many more), each telling "the dirtiest joke of all time" in their own inimitable fashion. The sheer volume of vaudevillian vulgarity takes on a life of its own, more fascinating than funny, until Gilbert Gottfried (at a celebrity roast for Hugh Hefner, shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01) tells what is unanimously hailed as the definitive version of the joke. It's a matter of context, style, and bawdy bravado, and for better or worse,The Aristocratswill endure as a testament to a joke so bad--so uproariously bad--that no comedian worthy of the profession can resist the temptation to tell it.--Jeff Shannon
I wasn't the only one who walked out of the movie theatre... This is a warning. A warning to people who might consider purchasing this movie. Don't. It is not just tasteless. It's not just disgusting. It crosses all lines of good taste and bad taste. Unless you like listening to an hour of the most disgusting jokes possible, do not purchase this movie. Do your brain and stomach a favor. The premise is simple enough. Modern comedians talk about one joke. The joke is one of those that is easily modified for the time period, and the further you get into the movie, the more disgusting the joke becomes. The more and more the comedians describe it, the less and less you want to laugh, because you're busy trying to keep your lunch from rising up. I mean this isn't just raunchy- it's gross: disgusting lewd acts, meticulous descriptions of people defecating on others etc (and that's the least of it). This movie isn't rated because no rating is bad enough for it. Adults only won't work because no intelligent, self respecting adult would find it funny. Trust me on this. About half the audience for this movie walked out of the movie theatre the day I saw it. I tolerated only 15 minutes. My friend got through 20. I think I can say without hyperbole that it is the worst, most disgusting crap ever. If only Amazon had a zero stars rating...
An Homage to Free Speech
I love this film for all it says about comedy, free speech, and the faces of art in America. In fairness, I focused more on the comic artistry than the joke itself, so I found it about as offensive as Michelangelo's David. (Sure he's nude, but also beautiful, and ready for a fight)
I was intrigued by how the same "story" could be told so differently by each comic; that, I believe, is the beauty of the film. The comics who ended up being the funniest were often the ones I least expected, and some whom I expected to be funny weren't. But Rolling Stone did get it right: Sarah Silverman IS the funniest woman in America.
I have been thinking that the distribution for this film was all wrong; it never should have hit the art houses and (few) multiplexes. But the controversy it stirred up was the perfect promo for its DVD release. This is the perfect foil in a world gone temporarily crazy with political correctness, censorship and religous bigotry. Worth the wait.THE THIN DREW LINE PLEASE NOTE: REVIEW DRAWN FROM AN ADVANCED SCREENER COPY - FINAL EDIT, EFFECTS AND CONTENT MAY CHANGE BEFORE RELEASE. THANK YOU.
Like the joke it's based around, THE ARISTOCRATS fares better by word of mouth than actually watching it... not to say that this a bad thing, not at all. There are some drop dead funny moments in this film (the best being the joke as told (in a rush) by Bob Sagat and Cartman (with loads of time) from SOUTH PARK), and the cast is stellar - but the film drops the ball by spending too much time talking about the joke (from its history to meanings, if any, in our society) than actually telling the joke. We do get many (many) montages of various comedians working the joke on the spot - but very few of them telling the joke from start to finish. So, it comes as a disappointment that so little of The Aristocrats actually ends up in THE ARISTOCRATS itself. At least in the theatrical cut... which was the cut provided for me on the screener copy.
The marketing boasts that the film will carry commentary, a highlight reel and up to 2 hours worth of extra material provided by everyone involved... and leads me to believe that the film I was looking for, and the one I believe was sold to me from the initial advertising (100 COMEDIANS. ONE VERY DIRTY JOKE.) will be found there... which is, simply put, people telling their versions of The Aristocrats from start to finish.
I have nothing but kudos and praise for Penn Jillette (and having said that, you can see knee to the groin coming a mile off) - but this documentary/film would have had better luck and a wider audience as an HBO (or SHOWTIME) original than theatrical release.
Until I can get my hands on the extras and review them - THE ARISTOCRATS remains, like the joke itself, an enigma.
Last, but not least - props to Drew Carey for making history by adding a punchline to a punchline - what he does here may change how you hear and see THE ARISTOCRATS forever.
