PRIVATE PARTS

SYNOPSIS:
The story follows the life of Howard Stern (playing himself) and the pivotal events that led to him becoming US radio's number one controversial celebrity. As we follow along from his childhood through college and beyond, we see Howard meet sound effects man Fred Norris (playing himself), news woman and sidekick Robin Quivers (playing herself), and future wife Alison (Mary McCormack). As his on air persona develops, Stern finds himself embroiled in controversy everywhere he goes, including NBC radio where he must deal with station manager Kenny (Paul Giamatti). In addition, between the "biographical" bits, we see Howard's co-worker Gary Dell'Abate (playing himself) trying to get people to promote certain segments of the movie.

"To Americans, Howard Stern is an icon of sorts, foul-mouthed, gregarious to the extreme, outrageous. He wrote a book chronicling his life, now it's a movie, and to play Stern they got, well, Stern. Now one would think that this idea is so repugnant, that the film could only be self-indulgence on a grand scale. The pleasure in seeing Private Parts is that it is the antithesis of one's expectations. The difficulty for distributors outside America is getting audiences in to see a film about a talk-back radio DJ who is repugnant, self-obsessed, and an unknown. Why see such a film? Because it's actually hilarious. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and yes, it has a genuine degree of wit and sparkle that is unexpected. There are moments of hilarity, yet the humanising of Stern, in terms of his relationship with his wife and kids gives this film something extra, a sense of character and unexpected depth. Stern's own performance, on all levels, is terrific, taking potshots at himself in a way we rarely see on screen. Mary McCormack is also a delight as his suffering, but ultimately supportive, wife. Raucously funny yet touching at times, Private Parts is not what one expects."
Paul Fischer

PRIVATE PARTS (R)
(US)

CAST: Howard Stern, Robin Quivers, Mary McCormack, Fred Norris, Paul Giamatti, Gary Dell’Abate, Jackie Martling

DIRECTOR: Betty Thomas

PRODUCER: Ivan Reitman

SCRIPT: Len Blum, Michael Kalesniko (based on the book by Howard Stern)

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Walt Lloyd

EDITOR: Peter Teschner

MUSIC: Vann Dyke Parks

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Charles Rosen

 

AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: Roadshow

AUSTRALIAN RELEASE: May 8, 1997

See Paul Fischer's interview with Mary McCormack