Review: The Onion Movie

I was surprised that this movie actually existed. I'm a big fan of The Onion and couldn't resist watching the movie. I did have my doubts going in--I kept thinking about Mad TV and how bad that turned out. Could a sketch-comedy movie based on a fake newspaper be worthwhile? I was prepared for disappointment.

The Onion Movie is a pleasant surprise. It has quite a bit of low-brow humor juxtaposed with social commentary. It reminded me of Amazon Women on the Moon, another sketch comedy movie without much of a plot. This had much more timely humor than its predecessor, and slightly more of a plot. But, The Onion Movie does not have B.B. King.

The Onion Movie revolves around The Onion News Channel and its anchor Norm Archer (Len Cariou). Archer gets upset about journalistic integrity due to the advertising for a Steven Seagal movie called Cock Puncher that interrupts the newscast. This storyline takes up about 15 minutes of the total movie time.

It is an amusing movie with a lot of low-brow comedy gimmicks. It does, however, have some of the amusing news stories you'd expect from The Onion--mostly read by Archer. It's amusing, but certainly not worth paying much to see. I suggest Amazon Women on the Moon for your entertainment dollar.