Now that we've hit the year 2002, very few things are actually alarming or offensive anymore. Imagine, though, how frankly shocking it must have been in the 1980's to hear a radio jockey such as Howard Stern on the airwaves. You're driving along on your way to work and you hear a bunch of expletives. Wild. If nothing else, the feature film Private Parts captures at least a little bit of the insight as to why Stern says the things he says and acts the way he does. He enjoys spontaneous impulses, and he is insane.
I read Stern's novel of the same name prior to having watched the movie, and many of the passages overlap. You've got Howard asking a female caller to pleasure herself on the air by sitting on top of her sub-woofer at home and turning up the bass. Then there's a visit at the studio from the Kielbasa Queen, who treats a 13-inch sausage like a willy good friend. Or a live argument with his program director, the hard-nosed Kenny "Pig Vomit" Rushton (the tragically underrated Paul Giamatti) as Stern bangs on the office door that keeps them from coming to blows. Yes, these indeed are the high points in a long and distinguished career.
I enjoyed the fact that Private Parts features a lot of real life people playing themselves. Who but Stern would know how to play himself? And sidekicks Robin Quivers, Fred Norris and Jackie Martling all seem quite comfortable in front of the camera as themselves. It's not surprising that Stern's wife Alison is played by an actress, in this case it's Mary McCormack. I can only imagine how awkward it would have been for Howard to cope with the filming of the baby-making sequence. Perhaps I should point out that, in the time since the film came out in 1997, Alison has filed for divorce.
True, Private Parts wasn't about to win any awards (although a satirical scene in the closing credits does have his flatuating character "Fartman" accepting a Best Actor trophy before plummeting to his death), but it does excel in one department: laughs. There are some funny moments, as when Stern and company play out a game show skit in order to sneak in some of the seven "unspeakable words" the Federal Communication Commission had deemed too dirty, or when he invites a naked woman to strip for him on the air while Pig Vomit dashes to the recording booth to pull the plug on the nasty business. Hmm.... When will we be getting the Howard Stern radio show in the Maritimes again?
