The Simpsons Movie (2007)

Rating:
Director: David Silverman
Starring: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardly Smith, Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria

So when you bring a long-running television show (eighteen freakin’ seasons and counting) to the big screen, should you be satisfied when the result feels just like a TV episode? “The Simpsons Movie” takes the plot a little larger to fill out an 87-minute runtime, to say nothing of the larger screen, but a show that’s been topping itself for outrageousness for 400 episodes probably couldn’t dazzle on those terms if the climax included Earth being destroyed by aliens.

The movie is as funny, as satirical, as absurd as the TV show, and it’s up to the viewer to decide whether that’s enough to pay $10 to see the same thing that’s aired for free all the time. And if you’re a little on the fence about that, you might squirm when Homer looks out into the audience and laughs at you for being a sucker.

The movie is not “the ultimate Simpson’s experience.” A lot of what makes the show great — its huge cast of quirky supporting characters — is left aside so that the writers can unfurl a plot big enough to justify a film. At the same time, they unexpectedly narrow the focus down to America’s most unusual family. The only supporting cast member who is remotely important to the story, who couldn’t have been cut or replaced with another oddball Springfield resident, is saccharine neighbor Ned Flanders. While it’s amusing to see apparently every recurring character make a cameo, it’s surprising that virtually none of them make more than that token appearance.

It’s a smart move. An attempt to sum up all aspects of the Simpsons in their 20th year (counting their “Tracy Ullman Show” debut) would hit on Bart’s scholastic misadventures, Homer’s workplace and second home at Moe’s tavern, and Marge’s surly sisters, but the result would be as scattershot as one of those mawkish fond-look-back clip shows that plague almost any sitcom that runs more than five years. Instead director David Silverman, creator Matt Groening and the writing staff throw their weight behind a triple-length new episode that aims for kick-ass laughs rather than a fond nostalgia trip.

And the movie succeeds. There are a lot of laughs from both big situations and set pieces and just the simple stupidity Homer creates around the house. If the comedy lets us down anywhere, it may be that the satire is not as edgy. For instance, Flanders gets a big role, and the community church is central, but none of the show’s pointed lampooning of religion is present. There’s irreverence, yes — Homer tossing a “Praise Jeebus” to parishoners as the family comes in late — but not the thoughtful skewering.

Similarly, the use of the Environmental Protection Agency as an all-powerful quasi-military agency (run by Albert Brooks, the film’s most notable guest star) and an amusing casting decision in the role of U.S. president, are ironic and funny (respectively), but it’d be a stretch to say much of a statement is being made. Many an episode of the TV show, like this film, goes more for laughs than for statements, but given the big-screen opportunity, one wonders whether punches were being pulled to avoid offending what’s now a paying audience.

A strength to the Big Long Story is that the film has a less scattered plot than many episodes of the show in the last few years. The formula for some seasons now has been to use wildly veering plot twists to fuel the need for outrageous comedy. The downside has been that the episode you find yourself watching after the first commercial doesn’t bear any resemblance to the story you were following before the break. And it won’t look much like the last act, either. Here, the story escalates crazily, of course, but it’s pretty much the same story all the way through, and its humble genesis lies in hallmark characteristics of the family: Lisa’s environmental and political consciousness, and Homer’s epic stupidity and thoughtlessness.

The stakes are higher here, paying movie audience, in that Homer’s bumbling threatens not only to destroy Springfield, not only makes the family pariahs, exiles — it also pretty much destroys the family, or at least Homer’s place in it. Animation’s most unsuited patriarch must atone — not only so that his neighbors will forgive him, but so that his own family will accept him.

In a world of detailed computer animation fetishizing the plush on a deep-pile carpet, you could wonder whether the relatively cheap, flat Simpsons style would succeed on the large screen (or, Jeebus save us, would they slick it up for paying customers?). Fortunately, the film looks just like the TV show, and succeeds marvelously. Matt Groening’s brilliantly lowball designs — equal parts approachable and grotesque — work blown up to this scale, and the absolutely amazing voice cast brings all the humor and cockeyed humanity that has made the show an enduring success.

So, yeah — all you get here is a great 90-minute “Simpsons” episode. But a great “Simpsons” episode is a joy to behold.