Hilarious, irreverant and as surprisingly sincere as the shock jock himself, PRIVATE PARTS is the autobiography of Howard Stern's rise from college DJ to superstardom.
Howard plays himself perfectly and that's no easy feat. He's a natural actor at ease with any emotion and is shockingly good.
Based on Stern's bestseller of the same name, the film shows Howard rattling across different stations and formats, learning his craft and eventually discovering the envelope pushing, outrageous on-air Howard that made him the most successful DJ in history.
The core of the film is really the love story between Howard and his wife Allison, very well played by Mary McCormack (House of Lies, Deep Impact). Their relationship starts as a college romance and evolves, not shying away from showing the drama of dealing with Howard's sexist on-air personality versus the caring, sincere person he is at home.
Howard's decades old team portray themselves. Robin Quivers is great replaying the key moments of their rise (and many falls), Fred Norris is hilariously deadpan and Paul Giamatti made his laugh-out-loud film debut as NBC station manager Kenny (Pig Vomit) who volunteers to reign in Stern's broadcast antics. This only enrages Howard, who manages to methodically break ever rule they have shackled him with, in order and with precision.
For those in the audience that only think they know Howard from the decades of attacks that paint him as a sexist, one-trick pony, the film will be a revolutionary introduction, albeit an adult, crude one.
For those of us that are long-time Stern fans, the film exceeds expectations by balancing the dramatic, comedic and emotional events in Howard's rise and molding them into a very good film.
There's a lot more to the "King of All Media" than you might suspect. Like Stern's rise from obscurity to his important role in the success of satellite radio and its $400 million payday, PRIVATE PARTS is a fun, strictly adult ride and gets an A. Baba Booey!!!!!
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