Howard Stern Private Parts A Movie Review	MPAA Rated - R It's 1:51 Long Reviews by Stu Gotz & The Dude on the Right

Howard Stern's "Private Parts" is one of the most self-serving movies I've ever seen. You know, kind of like Madonna's "Madonna: Truth or Dare." That's actually a little harsh because Madonna's movie was completely self-centered and totally without entertainment value, whereas "Private Parts" made me laugh and kept my attention throughout.

For those of you how didn't read the book, "Private Parts" chronicles Howard's rise to fame. The movie starts with Howard's "Fart Man" fiasco at an award show. This is where we are first sold the idea that Howard is not a bad person, he's just simply misunderstood. That theme, along with his true love and undying devotion for his wife Allison is projected throughout the movie. From there the movie traipses back to Howard's childhood and awkward college days. Throughout theses scenarios I learned that the egocentric Stern isn't afraid to make a joke at his own expense (I'm told that a loyal listener would already know that). From being hung lake a gnat to looking and sounding like a dork in college, Howard shows us he can take it across the chin with a smile (like any good porn queen would for the money shot). Thereafter we see Stem's meteoric rise to attention, how his ensemble was created, his siege of the DC market, his fight to be himself, heartache in the way of almost loosing his wife and actually loosing his first child, and his ultimate conquering of the New York City Market.

So am I buying the "misunderstood genius and devoted lover" pitch? I don't know about the first but I will say he makes a strong statement about his love for Allison (played by babe Mary McCormack). The funniest proof of this has to be a scene where a B-Movie star tries to seduce him. Wow!. She's hot and she's naked in a bath tub while he's a young and insecure disk jockey in the tub with her wearing his underwear (because "you can't cheat with your underwear on"). She goes to grab his shit and he is heading out the door. Me personally - I'd have done her!

On a possibly negative note, I'm still not sure if I liked the way the move was edited. "Private Parts" incorporates several styles of communicating to the audience. First, it's simply an acted out movie with some main-character narration. Secondly, there are the parts where Howard talks to the audience a-la "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Lastly, there are the parts where Gary Dell'Abate ( the "Baba Booey" guy) does some fuzzy, shaky-handed, camera intro's to the various phases of the movie. It all flows well but I'm not sure I like the idea of jumping through so many styles of presentation. Regardless, the movie was funny, though no comic treasure, and I felt entertained so I give Howard Stern "Private Parts" three of five stars.

Well that's what I though and I know the DOTR has something to say. Dude?

The Review by The Dude on the Right
I don't know where to start in this review so I guess by saying "I haven't laughed this hard during a movie in a long time" is as good as any. Just in case you've been living in a cave for the last couple of weeks and this is the first thing you are reading, Howard Stern, you know that radio personality guy who is syndicated in bazillions of markets, seems to piss of millions of people while at the same time having millions of fans, has a movie out and it's called, well, I've seen "Howard Stern Private Parts" which just sounds wrong, actually heard Howard say he wants it titled "Howard Stern's Private Parts" in reference to, well, you get the picture, but most people just seem to call it "Private Parts." In any scenario he's got a movie, it's about his rise in the radio world, which can be funny enough to make a movie, but do they stop at that? Nope, let's throw in a love story between Howard and his wife, Allison. and show Howard's world outside of the radio booth. Can this work? Well, it can and in "Private Parts" it does.

Everywhere I seem to be reading these two things about the film, first the love-story aspect of this movie and second how it's a story of the rise of a nobody to one of the biggest cult figures in the world today. Yes, those parts are in this film, and they make a nice story in their own right, but that's not why I liked the film. Nope, screw that, I wanted laughs, I wanted to see naked women, I wanted to see why millions of people love him, I wanted to see why millions more despise him, and I wanted to see just what makes Howard Stern click because I think that is where the true story lies. And you know, I saw it all.

Laughs - the movie was full of them, some of them slapstick humor like the scene with Howard and the mentally challenged dude playing Frisbee, but most of them were more on the risky humor Howard is known for like the scene of Howard as a young boy, playing a puppeteer, and the scene with the "Kielbasa Queen" in the studio. It's those kinds of scenes that will disgust millions of viewers, but had me nearly rolling in laughter on the floor.

Naked women - yep, the movie had them too. But you know, it wasn't so much about sex, well, except for the speaker scene, in an odd way it was about beauty and maybe even perverted admiration.

As far as loving and hating him, and what makes him click, I think they ended up all tying together. See, I lived in Chicago during the eighties, and while Howard was taking on the east coast, in Chicago I had the likes of Steve Dahl and Jonathon Brandmeier. Stern wasn't syndicated in Chicago yet. Howard, like the radio personalities I was listening to, seemed to realize that the people will listen to you if you're saying what the listeners are thinking but what society won't allow to be said. Whether they all stole this idea from each other, who was the first to do it (please don't flood my e-mail claiming your favorite guy did it - leave that to newsgroup discussions), and the countless number of copycats now, Howard became so popular, and so un-popular, because he pushes that envelope just a little bit further. And as far as he pushed that envelope on the radio, he also knew there was a game to play in the real world, outside of his radio world, and he knew how to play it with the best of them. As the movie seems to show, people love him because he's controversial and want to hear what he says next, people hate him because he's controversial and want to hear what he says next, and he just keeps on saying what a lot of us wish society would let us. Combine that with a great business sense and someone to stand by him through it all, and I think that's what makes him click.

As a movie, forgetting for a moment that its supposed to be a biographical sketch of the early life of Howard Stern, it would win if it was just a movie. The acting is great, the story line is both funny and touching, and it will probably both disgust you a little while maybe almost making you cry. The fact that it is supposed to be a biographical sketch, well, that just throws another angle which will always have you wonder if that voice you hear in the mornings talking about lesbians really acts like the rest of us when he's at home with the wife and kids. It can't be true, can it? Four out of five stars from me for "Private Parts."

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!