THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

Director: David Silverman
Stars: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer
Year: 2007
Rating: PG-13

"The Simpsons" - one of the most popular and enduring shows on television - finally gets its due on film. The anticipation for (and success of) the film's theatrical release can be best exemplified by Homer himself, in the first few minutes of the film, when he asks the moviegoer "Why pay for something when you can see it for free?" Well, people did pay - The Simpsons Movie was the biggest hit of 2007's summer movie season, and proof that - nearly 20 years later - the animated sitcom is still loved by all.

Question is - after years of talks, negotiations, and massive script rewrites - does the film live up to the hype? The answer is ... not quite. The Simpsons Movie is a good ride, with many laughs on the way, and the souped-up animation is really, really cool eye candy. But in the end, the whole thing plays out like an extended episode - a good episode, but not a great one.

As usual, Homer causes the disaster here, when he saves a pig from Krusty's slaughterhouse. Naming it Sir Oinks-a-Lot, Homer makes it a family pet - and thus the legend of Spider-Pig (one of the better gags in the film) is born. What Homer forgets, however, is the Springfield has become a toxic hotbed or waste already - so when he dumps the pigs waste silo (don't ask) into the local river, the eco-balance is thrown off at last, forcing the Environmental Protection Agency to seal the entire city under a huge dome, a move that dooms Springfield to extinction ... and has the entire town, complete with torches a la Frankenstein, to turn on Homer and his family. They escape the dome, leaving their beloved hometown forever, and Homer decides to relocate the family to Alaska - where, of course, things don't go so well with Homer in charge. The family decides, instead, to return to Springfield, determined to save the town they love - and, of course, things don't go the way they intended.

There are, of course, plenty of sight gags and one-liners and a few genuinely memorable moments. You WILL laugh in this film, sometimes a lot. But after all these years of finding new plots for episodes of the show, it's no wonder it took the filmmakers awhile to come up with a souped-up idea for a film. What they've created works here, too - if you like the show, you'll like the movie - but it's just ... good, but not great. You'll enjoy it - but afterward will realize it's just not the special, exceptional ride you expected. *** - Reel Cool