Fuck

Starring: Drew Carey, Pat Boone, Ice T, Chuck D, Sam Donaldson, Ron Jeremy, Bill Maher, Kevin Smith, Hunter S Thompson, Janeane Garofolo

Directed by: Steve Anderson

Distributor: ThinkFilm

Rated: NR

Not so much a documentary on a single vulgar word as it is an exploration into the nature of human vulgarity, Fuck holds up remarkably well for the majority of its 93 minutes.

Directed by Steven Anderson, Fuck is cleverly-paced, starting with initial impressions of the word itself (people, comedians in particular, seem to be really happy to be in a documentary about “fuck” ). It moves through the history of the word and its many uses (apparently there’s no evidence that it was ever an acronym, so “Fornicate Under Command of the King” and “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” are post-hoc hallucinations) and finally opens up into the broader issues posed by social and political reaction to human offense and embarrassment (with the inevitable look into this administration’s tightening of linguistic and other restrictions with Colin Powell’s kid at the head of the FCC). As food for thought, Fuck is a multi-course meal with plenty of time to digest. Between interviews with an exhaustive list of people, there are clips from movies, television and the occasional animation. It’s a fun film in a visually appealing package.

A good portion of Fuck’s appeal admittedly comes from the big names in front of the camera. Some of the interview bits are exactly what one would expect. Pat Boone does the Pat Boone thing, discussing cleaner alternatives to vulgar terms. Conservative film critic Michael Medved seems as comfortably uncomfortable on camera as he’s ever been discussing what he finds offensive. People like Ron Jeremy, Bill Maher and Tera Patrick provide exactly the sort of sound bites anyone would expect. But there are surprises. Ice T and Sam Donaldson, for instance, have some remarkably funny insights, while people who are normally staggeringly insightful, like Janeane Garofolo and Hunter S. Thompson, fall more than a little flat. Thompson’s lack of significant coherence is forgivable, though, and the film is dedicated to him. It’s just nice to see him one last time.

As entertaining as it is, the film never quite manages to take itself seriously enough to be truly edifying. Holding the new record for most use of the word in one film (over 800 times), Fuck is there to be experienced for its juvenile sense of humor as the audience laughs at its own dirty-mouthed innerchild. Having drifted through 93 minutes of verbal vulgarity on display in a public setting, the world hasn’t ended. We can all say “fuck” as much as we want and it’ll be okay. After an hour and a half, it’s only one vowel and three consonants. A single syllable. Nothing more. VS