THE ARISTOCRATS

Originally published in Verbicide issue #16

ThinkFilm/Lions Gate Home Entertainment
89 minutes, dir. by Paul Provenza, with Penn Jillette, George Carlin, and Jon Stewart

One can’t help but be intrigued by a DVD cover that reads in big, bold letters, “Might be the funniest movie you’ll ever see!” And with a list of stars that’s literally the who’s who of the comedy business, one can’t help but think that statement may quite possibly be true. But before you go out and purchase this film for the bargain price of $17.99, allow your trusty copy of Verbicide to let you in on a little secret: the big, bold statement on the cover of that DVD was a misprint. The words should actually read: “The Aristocrats might be the most over-hyped film ever made.”

I can recall when this film was being released only to exclusive theatres and regretting that I didn’t live in New York or Los Angeles. Talk was spreading like wildfire about this new documentary, co-produced by Penn Jillette (of the magician/comedian duo, “Penn & Teller”). Word was that Penn (and director Paul Provenza) had interviewed 100 of the greatest living comedians who all shared their analysis and unique versions of the world’s filthiest joke — an old burlesque routine called “The Aristocrats.” The other rumor was that it was a side-splitting, knee-slapping, laugh-out-loud piece of cinematic work. Turns out, only the prior was true. And here’s why:

First of all, the film’s attempt at humor comes from nothing but the retelling of the same joke over and over. The joke goes something like, “A guy goes into a talent agent’s office and tells the agent he has a great family act. The agent asks him what it is…” At this point of the joke, the joke-teller must make-up the grossest, dirtiest, raunchiest, and sickest thing he or she can think of. Once the act is done, the joke finishes with the agent saying, “Wow! That’s quite an act. What do you call it?” The punch line: “The Aristocrats!”

If you’re not laughing, that’s to be expected, as the comedians of this film admit that it’s not really a funny joke. As comedian Pat Cooper simply puts it, “This joke sucks!” However, the audience of the documentary will discover that the comedians are referring to the punch line of the joke being terrible, truly believing that the disgusting build-up is hilarious. Many suggest that the purpose of the joke is to challenge the comedian and test his or her skills to make people laugh. If this is indeed true, I came to the horrifying realization that most of the men and women we hail to be the funniest people alive are really boring and uncreative when put on the spot. The joke’s effectiveness relies completely on improvisation and only a handful of comedians in this film could pull it off.

There has been a lot of criticism towards the negative reviews of this film, accusing the critics of being too uptight and too easily offended. For the record, the opinions you’re reading right now are coming from a guy who loves vulgar humor. “South Park,” “Family Guy,” the classic gross-outs of the Farrelly brothers’ films…the list goes on. In most cases, the more “wrong,” the better. Then how come the dirtiest joke of all time failed in its objective? The blame can actually be greatly contributed to poor filmmaking. Every time a comedian would begin to get me involved in their version of the joke, the joke would be interrupted by a sudden cut to another comedian’s commentary. Sometimes the camera would return to the original joke, but oftentimes, we never get to hear the ending. This “MTV” style of jagged editing is really the greatest flaw of the film. A Video Production 101 student at a liberal arts college could’ve done a better job setting up shots for individual interviews and cutting the footage into a smooth film. If there’s one thing this movie proves it’s that Penn Jillette should probably stick to magic and leave filmmaking (and comedy) to others.

But in the conclusion of this review, let it not go un-said that The Aristocrats certainly has its moments. Highlights include Sarah Silverman’s personalized take on the joke, Kevin Pollak telling the joke as Christopher Walken, Robin Williams sharing a completely different joke than the title, and Eric Cartman of South Park horrifying his friends with the filthy gag. And, in all honesty, I kind of actually like this film. It may not be hilarious, but much of the comedians’ insight was pretty interesting. Who knew a subject so tasteless would be more of a think-piece than comedy? The topic probably didn’t deserve a 90-minute feature, but a half-hour HBO special would’ve been pure gold. In the end, the only thing that can really be said for sure is that humor is relative and entirely subjective. I mean, I actually laughed at something that came from Carrot Top’s mouth! In other words, it’s still possible you’ll find this to be the funniest movie you’ve ever seen. But if you think you’ve wasted your money…don’t say I didn’t warn you.