I used to receive a newspaper called the Irreverent Times. The tagline for that paper was "Because Anybody Can Print the Truth." The Irreverent Times was partly bizarre human interest and partly made up stories. That paper is long gone. Now, there is The Onion. The tagline for The Onion is "America's Finest News Source." The Onion is smarter, edgier and funnier than the Irreverent Times had been.

I was at a friend's house when he popped in his copy of The Onion Movie. I was all set for this one. It began with the familiar spinning newspapers and their headlines coming at us that we've all seen in films. I was glad we were watching on DVD so we could hold and read some of the headlines as they went by just a touch too fast.

The Onion Movie is very adult. There is a lot of sex and sexual innuendo in the sketch comedy that goes on. The language can, at times, be downright offensive. The humor here ranges from the slapstick to highbrow. As much as I enjoyed this movie, I spent a lot of time rolling my eyes at things that became running gags throughout.

There actually is a story loosely tying all the sketch comedy together here. The story has us followiing veteran news anchor Norm Archer who dutifully reports the stories for the Onion television news. He's been working in the industry for 27 years. The Onion has just been bought out by a large corporation called Global Tetrahedron which insists on throwing advertisements for their lateest movie in during news broadcasts. Thus, while Norm Archer is reporting a story, a small plush penguin marches across his desk trailing a banner for a Steven Segal movie that Global Tetrahedron is getting ready to release.

Then there are sketches about news stories and interviews that are airing. There are stories about two fictional countries who are on the brink of war, of terrorists and their training camps, of a pop star named Melissa Cherry who has sparked controversy with her too sexual lyrics and videos. There are clips about the evils of stereotyping. There are commercials for a gay cruise ship, and for the new Steven Segal movie that is opening. The individual sketches don't necessarily tie into each other, but are meant to be funny on their own. That said, there does come a point when certain things do start to come together into a single story.

I watched the Onion with a group of adult friends. We had a great time watching it. If you are offended by strong language and sexual content, this will not be for you. If you enjoy this kind of silliness, you'll get a kick out of this. I strongly recommend watching with a group as opposed to on your own.

The Onion contains a lot of stupid material. This is not the Daily Show or the Colbert Report. I tend to call this satire as it plays on the events of today, but it doesn't really comment on current events in the way I would expect satire to. I just found it fun and escapist. That's not bad in this day and age.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age