Review: 'Simpsons' Piles On Homer-Sized Laughs

Lonny Goldsmith, Staff Writer and Tim Bartlett, Contributor

'The Simpsons Movie' (PG-13)  (out of four)

For 18 years, "The Simpsons" has hit the mark with two generations of audiences while proving it's one of the funniest, smartest shows on network television.

The movie version, aptly titled "The Simpsons Movie," carries on the tradition of comic excellence -- it's as tasty as a jelly doughnut and as satisfying as a cold Duff beer (mmmmmm... beer).

Fans of the show who had waited years for the rumored feature film, aren't likely to be disappointed. And for the uninitiated, the movie is the perfect entry to creator Matt Groening's world.

The film is exactly what people think it's going to be -- an extended episode of the Sunday night cartoon show. Which means it's 90 minutes of brilliance as the jokes come fast and furious.

The movie's plot is simple, Homer (voiced by Dan Castellaneta), learning of free doughnuts, ignores his responsibility to the environment by choosing not to properly dispose of his pet pig's waste.

The result is polluted water for Springfield, which prompts the arrival of the Environmental Protection Agency led by Russ Cargill (voiced by Albert Brooks). Cargill drops a dome over the city (which his company made), trapping all Springfield residents. Homer, as usual, becomes the target of the town mob and is forced to escape with his family -- wife Marge (Julie Kavner), son Bart (Nancy Cartwright) and daughters Lisa (Yeardley Smith) and Maggie.

Homer has to try to win back the love of his family (twice), while simultaneously trying to save Springfield from oblivion.

The humor comes at you from all angles on multiple levels. The humor can be physical (Homer putting a hammer into his eye), visual (the slogan on Springfield City Hall which reads "Liberty and Justice For Most") or both at once (Homer hanging from a wrecking ball and being swung into a rock and a bar called "A Hard Place").

The movie has a soft side as well, as Homer is forced to put aside his own egocentricity and be the husband and father his family needs.

"The Simpsons Movie" is not without educational value. For example, we learned in geography that the fictional Springfield borders Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky. Homer also informs us that Alaska is not part of the United States.

Green Day, performed the classic Simpson's "Theme Song," then stopped their show on Lake Springfield to try and deliver an environmentally friendly message, which ends up in a spoof of a famous disaster movie. Trust us, it works.

What was missed in focusing so much on the title family was the wide array of primary and secondary characters that breeze in and out of the TV show on a weekly basis. Favorites like Apu, Mr. Burns, Principal Seymour Skinner, Snake, Edna Krabappel and many others were reduced to very minor parts. In a way, it's a tribute to the longevity of the show that so many memorable characters have been brought to life that they can't all be given their due.

Technically, it looks a lot better on the big screen than the small, but animation was never what made the show the success that it was -- look back at Season 1 or when the show was a bit part dropped into "The Tracey Ullman Show."

The music, particularly Green Day's contribution and Hans Zimmer's orchestral composition of "Spider-Pig," certainly hit the mark as well.

The PG-13 rating may have raised some eyebrows, but for devoted fans, the show has always been that. There is one perfectly timed swear word from the last person you'd expect, some full-frontal animated nudity, and one scene of drug use, all played perfectly for comic effect.

If there is one major flaw in "The Simpsons Movie" is that you're laughing so hard you miss a lot of the jokes. For the last joke, be sure to stay through the credits.