BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD DO AMERICA (48)

Directed by: Mike Judge

Starring: Beavis, Butt-Head, America

The Pitch: The delinquent duo get mistaken for hardened criminals. I said "hard"...

Theo Sez: The rating is slightly misleading : the highlights are hilarious in this anarchic cartoon but it's pretty obviously the work of a sketch-comedy mind, never really building to anything (even Beavis's irresistibly funny alter ego, "Cornholio", is more a silly voice than a proper routine). Still, whichever meaning of "do" you prefer, it's clear that the title delivers : this gleeful poke in the eye for American complacency (that ol' best-in-the-world feeling) is also the most uncompromised kind of satire - the kind that doesn't particularly care about annoying the sophisticated audience that might otherwise be best placed to appreciate it (compare a cosily liberal, heart-in-the-right-place movie like THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT). This is not the kind of impeccably counter-cultural satire you feel good about endorsing - which is exactly why it should be endorsed. Which is not to justify dumb adolescent humour per se, or to lobby for more jokes about farting and nose-picking ; merely to point out that self-righteous censure only makes them stronger. Even if they still don't add up to much of a movie.