Private Parts (DVD, 1998, Widescreen)

Howard Stern has been accused of a lot of things, but he has never been accused of being dumb. With ``Private Parts,'' his surprisingly sweet new movie, he makes a canny career move: Here is radio's bad boy walking the finest of lines between enough and too much.

His fans will find enough of the Howard whose maxims include ``lesbians equal ratings.'' General audiences will be seduced by the film's story line, which exploits three time-honored Hollywood formulas: (1) rags to riches, (2) I gotta be me and (3) hey, underneath it all I'm really just a cuddly teddy bear.

The movie shows the coronation of a geek. In grade school, we learn, Howard's father made a more or less daily practice of calling him a moron.

Howard was the only white kid in an all-black high school. He didn't date until college (even a blind girl turns him down, after feeling his nose), and he married almost the first woman who was nice to him. Played by Mary McCormack, his wife, Alison, plays a key role in the film, which asks as its underlying subplot, ``How much will this woman put up with before she dumps him?'' The answer, as Stern listeners know, is ``a lot.'' ``Private Parts'' is a biopic about an awkward kid with a bad radio voice and such shaky breath control that he was always running out of steam in the middle of the call letters. Working at a 40-watt station, he's promoted to program manager because he's such a lousy DJ, and is told by the station owner: ``Disc jockeys are dogs. Your job is to make them fetch.'' Fired from a country station he hates, Howard tells Alison: ``I have to be myself on the radio and tell the truth. I have to go all the way.'' He does. He reveals things about their marriage on the radio that would be grounds for divorce in any civilized land.

In 1981, Howard arrives at a Washington, D.C., station and is paired for the first time with Robin Quivers, who plays herself in the movie and functions as ballast, steadying Howard in his manic phases and speaking for many members of the audience when she tells him, over and over, that this time he's gone too far. Stern and Quivers are both making their screen acting debuts here, and they do what seasoned actors claim is very difficult: They play convincing, engaging versions of themselves.

The final third of the movie shows Howard in his modern incarnation, as the shock jock who will say almost anything on the radio. He crowns himself King of All Media (tough to do, since by his account he rarely has both hands free at the same time). And he gets into trouble after WNBC, the network's New York flagship, hires him apparently without having listened to his show. His new boss is a program director quickly nicknamed Pig Vomit (well played by Paul Giamatti), who promises his superior, ``Either I tame him or I make him so crazy he quits.'' The process includes lessons in the proper singsong pronunciation of the call letters.

When one bit goes over the top, Howard makes Robin the fall guy. She's fired and feels betrayed. This episode, based on life, is played honestly; Howard acts like a creep and doesn't resign on principle, although perhaps he is right, strategically, to see the firing as a ploy to get him to resign.

The film has been directed by Betty Thomas (``The Brady Bunch,'' ``The Late Shift''), whose steadying hand makes it play like a movie and not a series of filmed radio shows. Many sequences are very funny and overall this was a fun movie to watch...

Give credit to director Betty Thomas for making the notorious Howard Stern, self-proclaimed "king of all media," into a nerdish but appealing media rebel who loves his wife and family. Even if you hate Stern's rude radio show, you may discover that the underdog charm of this warm, whimsical film (based on Stern's autobiography) turns you into a fan--for the length of the film at least. Stern delivers a winning performance as the clumsy college kid and aspiring disc-jockey-turned-demon-shock​-jock, who becomes an unlikely hero as he battles station managers, network executives, and conservative "arbiters of decency" in the name of unfettered bad taste. Mary McCormack is fine as his understanding wife, Alison, and longtime Stern sidekicks Robin Quivers and Fred Norris acquit themselves nicely appearing as themselves. By the end of this smart, funny little film, don't be surprised if you find yourself cheering for the slob. --Sean Axmaker

The story is believable as I was around to see and observe that time in history. It all seemed very real to me except for what his wife put up with.

If Howard Stern made a movie about the early part of his life this would be exactly it. The unbelievable part is why his wife stayed with him. Lots of stuff happened in the '60s. I had my nose to the grindstone and managed to avoid seeing it for the most part. I would like to think this made me a better but maybe dull person having avoiding the affairs and wife swapping etc.

The big message for this one is that if the only thing that mattered was audience share and sales as long as UNCLE CHARLIE did not pull your plug. If the censors did not shut you down you could say or do whatever sold the product. Today the money and what you can get away with is still all that matters. The what you can get away with has changed somewhat.

Today like the early '50s I think the folks with the pitchforks sickles and torches would be on the march to close him out. No matter what you say, Build or try to develop there are organizations that will try to stop you. I live in Hawaii where nothing new happens without a protest and the usual stink letters to the editor. I do find it strange that those same protesters ignore what happens on premium cable the internet and in the oval office.

Call me odd, but I really like the movie Private Parts. I think it's funny and Howard Stern is just an interesting man. I wish they would do another movie of his current life and radio show.
It is interesting when you watch the movie to see the obstacles and to see how Howard got started. It's funny. After watching the movie we started calling our dog pig vomit like Howard called one of the men he worked with! It's catchy, don't you think?! : )
Anyway it is fun to see how people in general do the radio and how they work their way up. Plus for men, there are a few naked women in the movie and we all know they like to see that. Right?
Mostly this movie is just super entertaining and funny. The characters & shocking things that Howard does is amazingly interesting.

FUNNY & ORIGINAL, GREAT CAST! HOWARD STERN TELLS A SOMEWHAT EXHAGERATED STORY OF HOW HE BECAME FAMOUS. RATED R, ALL STERN FANS WILL LOVE THIS FILM.