Published via Ecency

(source: tmdb.org)

Trey Parker and Matt Stone are often considered to be the greatest satirists in America today. They owe that reputation to their long-running animated series South Park which, with its irreverent humour and tendency to slaughter sacred cows of American “political correctness” and culture in general, earned them huge respect and following all over the world. Their attempts to use the similar formula on the big screen, however, left much to be desired. Orgazmo, 1997 comedy written and directed by Trey Parker, proved to be one such major disappointment.

Trey Parker appears in the main role as Joe Young, Mormon missionary trying to find new converts in Los Angeles. He doesn’t have much of success and when he accidentally stumbles into pornographic film set, sleazy mob-connected producer Maxx Orbison (played by Michael Dean Jacobs) sends security guards to violently dispose of him. That forces Joe to defend himself and, while doing so, he displays impressive martial arts skills. Orbison is actually quite impressed and offers Joe role in the series of pornographic films about superhero named Captain Orgazmo. Joe agrees, because he desperately needs money to wed his fiancee Lisa (played by Robin Lynne Raab) in Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City. One of the condition is not to actually perform in sex scenes and has body double Clark (played by Ron Jeremy). Joe doesn’t like his new co-workers, but nevertheless befriends Ben Chapleski (played by Dian Bachar), actor playing Orgazmo’s sidekick Choda Boy. It turns out that Ben is science nerd who designed Orgazmorator, weapon that can incapacitate its targets by causing orgasms. That device will become handy to Joe when Lisa arrives to Los Angeles only to be abducted by Orbison, who wants to force her to perform in his films.

Made with very low budget and, apparently, even less ambition, Orgazmo employs premise which is, in an essence, a single joke – ultraconservative uptight Mormon forced to engage in the most libertine of all segments of US entertainment industry - that quickly overstays its welcome. Adding parodic treatment of superhero genre seems like an afterthought that is even less developed. Quality of humour is very low and most jokes simply don’t work. Parker, Stone (who plays photographer) and their close friend Dian Bachar might have had great fun making the film, but that fun isn’t near the screen. The only segment of the audience that might find Orgazmo entertaining are connoisseurs of 1990s American pornographic films who have rare opportunity to, apart from already iconic Ron Jeremy, see some of their favourite porn stars, like Juli Ashton, in mainstream film. The concept alone was enough to make MPAA censors apoplectic and even the lack of female nudity and explicit sex didn’t prevent them to brand Orgazmo with box office-killing NC-17 rating. As a result, Orgazmo failed to make the impact in theatres but, in retrospect, that was a good thing for almost anyone involved. Parker and Stone were free to concentrate on television and their magnum opus.

RATING: 2/10 (-)