Post by StevePulaski on Jul 18, 2011 9:43:58 GMT -5
Rating: ★★★
NOTE: Normally, I censor most language in my reviews but due to the film's name and content all words, normally censored, will be left uncensored in this review.
"What's the big deal it doesn't hurt anybody? Fuck, fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck!" - Eric Cartman, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.
My main question is if this film went to theaters, how would you get a ticket for it? What would you tell the ticket taker you wanted to see? Knowing me, I'd probably walk right up to the bulletproof glass and say "Two tickets for Fuck please," while others will replace it with The F Bomb, or The F Word. Not to mention, I bet advertising on TV was next to impossible.
The fun of this movie is to watch all the paranoia of a nation unfold. These words are harmless, but for some reason are made into such a big deal. When you think about it, the seven dirty words really could be any words. Who says if a word is bad or not? I'm a firm believer that in ten years, the seven dirty words won't be looked down upon. They are used in most everyone's vocabulary, and are still considered "bad words." The main question; what makes a word a bad one?
Fuck is a documentary, not only on the word itself, but the whole concept of swearing. They show it in the news, in religion, politics, movies, music, etc with interviews from Bill Maher, Tera Patrick, Drew Carrey, Kevin Smith, the late Hunter S. Thompson, and many others.
Many famous clips are shown throughout the film like George W. Bush's middle finger incident, the nip-slip at the Super Bowl, Lee Elia's rant (which I memorized some of as a kid), Country Joe and the Fish at Woodstock, George Carlin's introducing the seven dirty words you can never say on television, Lenny Bruce's nine arrests for obscenities, the FCC, and more. There is a lot to learn from a film with such a "horrific" title.
What sounds childish, really is enlightening to the world of cursing and swearing. Many movie clips are shown throughout like The Big Lebowski, Clerks, Eddie Murphy Raw, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Scarface, and others. It surprised me greatly when films like Casino and Goodfellas didn't get their time in the light in this film. Casino originally held the record for most uses of the word "fuck" when released in 1995. Plus, the desert scene used the word "fuck" at least a dozen times.
Despite being insightful, Fuck seems to have a little love affair with itself going on here. It is so impressed there is a movie about the word that it keeps coming back and saying it over and over and over again. This movie clocks in at 857 uses of word. Truth be told, when the movie ends, you don't feel you've heard it all that much as if it just becomes another normal word. You're so used to hearing it it loses its special quality.
Fuck is a unique film. A documentary, that may seem pointless to some, but it funny to others. It has sort of a gratuitous side to it, but it's all in good humor and wit. It's not really offensive, and the run time is perfect. It doesn't overstay or under-stay its welcome. If only the film didn't fall in love with the word so much that it uses it every chance it gets, maybe it would've had more to offer. Maybe we will get an explanation in the Cunt documentary.
Starring: Bill Maher, Tera Patrick, Hunter S. Thompson, David Prager, and Kevin Smith. Directed by: Steve Anderson.
NOTE: Normally, I censor most language in my reviews but due to the film's name and content all words, normally censored, will be left uncensored in this review.
"What's the big deal it doesn't hurt anybody? Fuck, fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck!" - Eric Cartman, South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.
My main question is if this film went to theaters, how would you get a ticket for it? What would you tell the ticket taker you wanted to see? Knowing me, I'd probably walk right up to the bulletproof glass and say "Two tickets for Fuck please," while others will replace it with The F Bomb, or The F Word. Not to mention, I bet advertising on TV was next to impossible.
The fun of this movie is to watch all the paranoia of a nation unfold. These words are harmless, but for some reason are made into such a big deal. When you think about it, the seven dirty words really could be any words. Who says if a word is bad or not? I'm a firm believer that in ten years, the seven dirty words won't be looked down upon. They are used in most everyone's vocabulary, and are still considered "bad words." The main question; what makes a word a bad one?
Fuck is a documentary, not only on the word itself, but the whole concept of swearing. They show it in the news, in religion, politics, movies, music, etc with interviews from Bill Maher, Tera Patrick, Drew Carrey, Kevin Smith, the late Hunter S. Thompson, and many others.
Many famous clips are shown throughout the film like George W. Bush's middle finger incident, the nip-slip at the Super Bowl, Lee Elia's rant (which I memorized some of as a kid), Country Joe and the Fish at Woodstock, George Carlin's introducing the seven dirty words you can never say on television, Lenny Bruce's nine arrests for obscenities, the FCC, and more. There is a lot to learn from a film with such a "horrific" title.
What sounds childish, really is enlightening to the world of cursing and swearing. Many movie clips are shown throughout like The Big Lebowski, Clerks, Eddie Murphy Raw, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Scarface, and others. It surprised me greatly when films like Casino and Goodfellas didn't get their time in the light in this film. Casino originally held the record for most uses of the word "fuck" when released in 1995. Plus, the desert scene used the word "fuck" at least a dozen times.
Despite being insightful, Fuck seems to have a little love affair with itself going on here. It is so impressed there is a movie about the word that it keeps coming back and saying it over and over and over again. This movie clocks in at 857 uses of word. Truth be told, when the movie ends, you don't feel you've heard it all that much as if it just becomes another normal word. You're so used to hearing it it loses its special quality.
Fuck is a unique film. A documentary, that may seem pointless to some, but it funny to others. It has sort of a gratuitous side to it, but it's all in good humor and wit. It's not really offensive, and the run time is perfect. It doesn't overstay or under-stay its welcome. If only the film didn't fall in love with the word so much that it uses it every chance it gets, maybe it would've had more to offer. Maybe we will get an explanation in the Cunt documentary.
Starring: Bill Maher, Tera Patrick, Hunter S. Thompson, David Prager, and Kevin Smith. Directed by: Steve Anderson.