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Movie 43

9/10

Stars: Elizabeth Banks, Kristen Bell, Halle Berry, Leslie Bibb, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler, Bobby Cannavale, Kieran Culkin, Josh Duhamel, Anna Faris, Richard Gere, John Hodgman, Terrence Howard, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Knoxville, Justin Long, Stephen Merchant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloë Grace Moretz, Chris Pratt, Liev Schreiber, Seann William Scott, Emma Stone, Jason Sudeikis, Uma Thurman, Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet (Cast listed in alphabetical order)

Director: SEE BELOW

DIRECTORS: Steven Brill, Peter Farrelly, Will Graham, Steve Carr, Griffin Dunne, James Duffy, Jonathan Van Tulleken, Elizabeth Banks, Patrik Forsberg, Brett Ratner, Rusty Cundieff, James Gunn

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You can see why the distributors didn’t bother to show this outrageously dirty, disgustingly funny comedy to critics – lewd laughter from those reviewers who were (rightly? I think so) enjoying the unique collection of crude short films that comprise Movie 43 would have either (a) really upset other less susceptible to film filth or, worse still perhaps, woken those reviewers who had taken refuge in sleep as is their right.


I admit it. I fall into the first category. And, if forced, I might even apologise – before heading off to enjoy the film again. Shame on me!

Mind you, it's worth seeing simply to see what the BBFC is willing to mark as a '15' these days.

I found it cleverly conceived and even better executed.

I laughed long and loud and frequently (as did the playing audience at the public screening I attended). Sketch after shocking sketch induced laughter, justifying the makers’ best hopes in their ‘homage’ to all-short-sketch shows like, in particular, Kentucky Fried Movie. (Mind you, Movie 43 makes Kentucky Fried Movie resemble a Boy Scout recruiting film.

In reviewing the film, the temptation simply to synopsize each sketch, along with its enjoyably (for me, at least) gross dialogue and situations is almost overwhelming. Unfortunately, even in short form, would take around ten times the space available, eight times of which would be simply to list the star-studded cast, who were happy and willing to perform the kind of crudely comic sketches that might make even Jud Apatow and his crew envious.

Suffice it to say the opening sketch in which impeccably groomed and impeccably spoken (and impressively straight-faced, giving the situation in which she finds herself) Kate Winslet goes on a blind date with Hugh Jackman only to find that everyone else in the show apart from herself appears to be blind to the fact that Jackman bears a huge scrotum and testicles hanging from his neck.

Hopefully that description will help you decide whether Movie 43 is for you. Take my word for it, it doesnÂ’t get any less crude or less dirty or less comically slewed as the show progresses and delivers a slew of sex, slapstick, filthy language and eye-and-taste boggling sketches, made all the more memorable by the extraordinary star-studded cast and behind-the-camera characters.

You have been warned.

Alan Frank

USA 2013. UK Distributor: Momentum. Colour by deluxe.
90 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 3, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 3, Swearing 3.

Review date: 26 Jan 2013