It's a Gaz

I've watched South Park from the very beginning. I loved Team America: World Police. But some of the earlier efforts from Trey Parker and Matt Stone have missed me. Until recently, anyway, when I did cross one off the list, their low budget 1997 film Orgazmo.

If you've never heard of the film, that's probably due to the NC-17 rating it was branded with (with them lacking any studio clout to argue it down to an R). Not that it wasn't courting controversy, of course. The movie is about a young Mormon on a mission to Los Angeles, who gets caught up in the porno industry when he's offered money-he-can't-refuse to play action/sex superhero Orgazmo in a sleazy director's raunchy movie. Hilarity ensues.

This movie doesn't really have much of the clever satire typical of South Park or present in Team America. It's simply not as thoughtful a film. But that's not to say it isn't funny. Parker and Stone get plenty of laughs from their ridiculous situation, from poking fun at the conventions of blockbuster movies, and from calling attention to their laughably small budget. I ended up feeling like the lack of satirical commentary here is simply because less was inherent in the idea, because it does feel by the end of the film like no comedic stone has been left unturned.

Trey Parker stars as the hapless Mormon who becomes Orgazmo, and delivers the same type of performance he does in his extensive voice-over work on South Park. It's consciously melodramatic, but that works completely within the context. Matt Stone takes on a smaller role as a crew member on the porno film; he's basically just there for one running gag, but it is a gag with a good final payoff.

The rest of the film is fleshed out partly with friends of Parker and Stone that appeared in lots of their early work, and partly with actual celebrities of the porn industry here to be in on the joke. Parker himself also directs, and gets performances from his actors of a similar tone to his own, a "not intentionally bad acting", but also "intentionally not truly good acting." As I said, it works within the context here.

Ultimately, this movie falls in the cult category, and was probably made to go there. And it's not bad for a cult movie. It's not amazing, but serves up plenty of laughs and quotable lines. I grade it a B, though I'd stop short of recommending it generally, given its subject matter. Not everyone is going to appreciate its warped sense of humor. But those who would should find it well worth the time.