South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut

"South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut" justcan't wait to wiggle out of the restraints put on its television counterpart.In the first 10 minutes of the movie, the cartoon's creators go out oftheir way to assure an R-rating as quickly as possible with a mock-Broadwaymusical number of flatulence and profanity that culminates in a chorusthat goes "Shut your f***ing face, uncle f***er..." to a tuneso peppy you almost can't help but sing along.

(I didn't count, but I'm guessing the F-word is used morethan 400 times in the course of the movie.)

As shamefully funny as "There's Something About Mary" and at least twiceas crude, this latest big screen TV transplant is tasteless, raw and offensiveto be sure. But by the time that opening showtune was over, I was laughingso hard I could hardly breathe. And it only gets funnier.

A surprisingly astute social satire that takes ruthlessaim at everything from parental responsibility to Saddam Hussein, "SouthPark" starts simply enough with the badly-animated and already foul-mouthed"South Park" kids -- Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny -- sneakingin to an R-rated movie and coming home cursing like sailors.

Looking for someone to wag their fingers at, the kids'parents, rallying around a McCarthyism-themed showtune of their own, decideto blame Canada for all the offensive entertainment warping the minds ofAmerican children. They quickly garner enough political clout to starta full-scale war.

Parodying the Sunday school lesson style of early Disneymusicals with many corny tender moments and even cornier incidental music-- as if the soundtrack from the original "Parent Trap" got lostin the multiplex and wandered into the wrong theater -- "South Park"creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone take aim at everyone and everythingin this movie, starting with themselves and the censors that have becomethe arch-nemeses of the TV show.

Besides Canadians, finger-pointing parents, censorship-happypoliticians, targets include the MPAA ratings board, Christians, Jews,Hindus, Blacks and gays, the Baldwins, movie producers, Satan and SaddamHussein (who are portrayed as gay lovers), the V-chip (here re-engineeredas implants that gives kids electric shocks when they swear), Brian Boitano,Disney musicals, "Star Wars" (they even added a Jar Jar Binksjoke at the last minute), Bill Gates, "Men Are From Mars, Women AreFrom Venus," "Patton," "Star Trek 2," and evenGod.

Amazingly, with all that going on, not one gag misfires,although the movie does lose momentum for a couple reels in the middleafter Kenny, who dies in every episode of the show, goes to hell and counselsSatan on his self-esteem.

Obviously, this is not a movie for the easily offended.In fact, it might not be a movie for anyone but the show's fans. But ifyou count yourself in that group, you will laugh harder at "Bigger,Longer and Uncut" than you've laughed at every "South Park"episode put together.