Private Parts Details

American “shock jock” Howard Stern, notorious for his sexually explicit radio broadcasts and for his bust-ups with just about everybody, is the subject of this enthralling biographical comedy. Charting his rise from hopeless deejay to America's most outspoken radio celebrity, Private Parts presents Stern (here playing himself) as a deeply offensive human being, but it also reveals a softer, off-air side, particularly in his relationship with Alison (Catherine McCormack). Although obviously toned down, this rude, crude and highly entertaining adaptation of Stern's own book doesn't flinch from re-creating many of his raunchier moments. And director Betty Thomas (The Brady Bunch Movie, Doctor Dolittle) does playfully — and perhaps subversively — deconstruct the affair by showing the occasional chapter inserts being filmed. Despite the sometimes extreme obnoxiousness, you find yourself rooting for the man, as he pushes the broadcasting envelope and crosses swords with radio bigwigs.

Unlikable, self-regarding biopic of a notorious 'shock jock', famed for his outrageousness, though there's little evidence of it in this anodyne confection, in which he is about as abrasive as cotton wool; he limits himself to a few farting jokes and a gr