Review of The Aristocrats (2005) by Edith N — 18 May 2008

I don't think the joke is funny. It turns out I'm not alone, either; Richard Lewis doesn't seem to like it, either. Indeed, I've been told I wouldn't like this movie because this is, when you get right down to it, one of the most horrible, filthy, obscene jokes in the history of, like, anything. This, it turns out, is the point.

I'm not repeating the joke here, and not just because the movie rather makes it redundant. The goal, some of the comedians mention, is to tell a 90-minute version of the joke. The punchline, I think, is that this [i]isn't[/i]; the movie clocks in at 89 minutes. However, there is a huge, huge list of famous people here, from Eddie Izzard to Robin Williams to fraggin' Andy Dick to Penn & Teller to just about everyone. Jon Stewart, Whoopi Golderg, and Phyllis Diller. These people are so numerous that they have to be put in alphabetical order, because there's simply no other way. Do [i]you[/i] want to decide if the Smothers Brothers come before or after George Carlin? Or Eric Idle? 'Cause I don't. Harry Shearer over Hank Azaria? Get me started.

Somehow, we get Gilbert Gottfried making Rob Schneider falling on the floor laughing at this joke--but we also get some interesting psychological perspective about this. We get the women pointing out the obvious assumptions of the jokes--when men tell it, there's more fellatio and hardly ever reciprocation thereof. (Yeah, we're going the classy way on this one; how do you think we're going to make it to the end? This is a [i]family[/i] site!) There's the reflective aspect; who adds what to it. What part belongs where. Who did you hear it from? Who do you think tells it best? Do you tell a racist version now? Does that make it funny now that scatology and obscenity aren't that funny anymore? There are men who couldn't make it into the movie because of ill health--Rodney Dangerfield and Buddy Hackett. It's dedicated to Johnny Carson, who was supposed to get a special screening.

Oh, my. The thing is, I don't think the point is really the joke. The thing is, these are 100 people--do you think of Carrie Fisher as a comedian?--telling what is considered to be the ultimate inside joke. This is a joke that comedians tell each other, told each other. It was all about oneupsmanship, and that's why the joke gets so filthy. Oddly, it's Drew Carey who brings what I think is about the only fresh, clever thing--the "ta-da" gesture. Yeah. The joke needed it.

Look, I can keep dropping names here all day. And believe me, IMDB pretty much does. (Well, it has to, if you want a complete cast list.) Obviously, some of these people are more obscure than others, but we've got at least two Oscar winners, at least one Emmy winner. (Too lazy to look it up, is what that means. Does anyone have anyone other than Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jon Stewart to add?) It's worth watching, though, if you can take the thing. If you are easily offended, for the love of Gods, watch something else.