I had no idea that there was an Onion movie until I saw the distinct logo on the shelf at my local Blockbuster. Intrigued I grabbed the box and was struck by the screen shots: scenes which looked like they could have come from Kentucky Fried Movie—when I saw that David Zucker was a producer that was explained, and I knew I had to see this film.

This movie isn't a typical Hollywood production; it's not a single cohesive story from start to finish, rather it's a collection of sketches with running gags and a throughline that's secondary to the points of the individual sketches. If you're familiar with Kentucky Fried Movie then you won't be surprised; if you aren't familiar with KFM then then think about Saturday Night Live and the disparity that comes as they skip from sketch to sketch. Within the framework of The Onion Movie the switches are generally associated with different stories on the news network, as well as "ads" running during the commercial breaks, other cuts are related to people watching the show; transitions tend to be short, but efficient.

The stories and ads themselves are generally modeled in the likeness of the articles from the newspaper The Onion: they're satirical pieces generally attacking American culture. The movie, however, takes advantage of the fact that it's not going to be sitting out on public news stands free for anybody to take: the satire is far more risque, much more likely to offend. While this movie isn't rated it's definitely adult content (though it lacks the nudity of Kentuky Fried Movie).

The throughline of the piece is unrepentantly borrowed from Paddy Chayefsky's Network: anchorman Norm Archer discovers that the network is using the news to advertise it's entertainment ventures, including dictating what stories will go one the air, and "he doesn't just get mad, he gets...angry." It's a weak throughline that runs on its simplicity (and clearly hopes to ride on the Network reference), but the running gags actually do a really good job of holding things together. The two main running gags are the mock Steven Seagal film Cock Puncher (while Seagal can be painful to watch in a real role, he mocks himself well), and the Melissa Cherry pop-star who's a Jessica Simpson/Britany Spears parody which keep popping up and reminding the viewer that they're still watching the same thing.

I find this film extremely entertaining. There are moments which are disturbing, but they're always leavened appropriately and keep this film generally fun to watch. It's well written, well acted, well cut, and well worth watching


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD