Movie Night #103: The Simpsons
Although we’ve had a few get-togethers before and after this, I’m going to try to only count the movie nights where we actually watched a movie. Before this, there was a fun night out with my brother (visiting from Chicago) where we did some bar-hopping downtown Ann Arbor. It was a blast to see my brother, and since he has a job and I don’t, he was kind enough to pay for my booze. We stayed out until the bars closed, had a fun walk back to the car – where we stopped off at a house party in progress. My cousin Rob had the (intoxicated) idea that they may have more beer at the party, so we all decided to stop in and say hi.
Sadly, they were out of booze. And we scared a few people dancing in the living room. So we decided to go home.
The following weekend, we had a regular movie night:
Movie Night #103: The Simpsons Movie (2007)
Director: David Silverman
Plot: The Simpsons make their big screen debut with a flick that was a decent movie, although not up to par in the comedy department (which, maybe I was just crazy to be expecting). The plot is more of a dramatic work, with some comedy thrown in for good measure. Which is all fine and dandy, so long as you weren’t expecting loads of laughs.
Lake Springfield is so overly polluted that any more illegal dumping into the lake will cause the city of Springfield to be quarantined by the government. And since Homer is a simpleton, he does do some quick dumping and tries to get away with it scott-free. But he’s caught, and the entire family is run out of town when a giant bubble is put over the city, preventing anyone from leaving (they get out through a sink hole). However, with his family hating him, Homer must come up with a way to save the town and get the love of his family back.
The movie has a lot of good dramatic moments, like the [**spoiler alert**] video that Marge leaves Homer when they live in Alaska, telling him that she’s leaving him forever [**end spoiler alter**]. And when it wants you to laugh, you certainly laugh [no doubt you saw the Spider-Pig bit in the trailers]. Perhaps it’s because I haven’t watched The Simpsons TV show for a number of years, but I remember the show being more comedy than drama – and the movie is certainly the opposite. However, none of the characters actually change. The status quo is returned at the end of the movie. So after everything’s said and done, nothing is different and no one has learned a lesson from their actions.
If you like a little mindless entertainment and some decent dramatic moments, check the flick out. Sure the flick has some good moments in it and a few fan shout outs, but it just didn’t feel like a well thought out flick. More like something that was written by a forum committee than something that was put together for the fans of the show. If someone’s rented it, it’s worth a watch…but I don’t think it’s necessary to go out of your way to see (or own) it.
