Synopsis
Never before has a man done so much with so little.
The auto-biographical story of Howard Stern, the radio-rebel who is now also a TV-personality, an author and a movie star.
1997 Directed by Betty Thomas
The auto-biographical story of Howard Stern, the radio-rebel who is now also a TV-personality, an author and a movie star.
Howard Stern Robin Quivers Mary McCormack Fred Norris Paul Giamatti Gary Dell'Abate Jackie Martling Carol Alt Richard Portnow Kelly Bishop Henry Goodman Jonathan Hadary Paul Hecht Allison Janney Michael Murphy James Murtaugh Reni Santoni Lee Wilkof Melanie Good Theresa Lynn Amber Smith Althea Cassidy Jenna Jameson Bobby Boriello Michael Maccarone Matt Friedman John Michael Bolger John Stamos Christopher Barron Show All…
Howard Stern's Private Parts, Private Parts - Dirty Radio, Soukromé neřesti, Partes privadas, Parties intimes, Intim részek, Части тела, 隐私部分, פרטים אינטימיים, Gizli Noktalar, Частини тіла, 언터쳐블 가이, O Rei da Baixaria, Części intymne, Partes Privadas, Howard Sternin intiimit osat, Howard Sterns edle deler, Kralj etera
That’s it, my dad can’t pick out movies for us to watch together anymore, movie-picking license revoked.
While some may say it's insanely egotistical to play yourself in your own biopic, Stern's decision to play himself not only makes Private Parts incredibly refreshing, but it's also the only reason the film works.
I often find biopics tiresomely lame for a whole slew of reasons I care not to get into (documentaries are vastly better), but casting Howard, Robin, and Fred as themselves, who all kill it for being non-actors, makes this incredibly unique and fun. Stern also leans so hard into the film that it becomes him tonally; it's the perfect blend of self-aware and lovably obnoxious.
I would also be remiss to not mention the plethora of nudity on display (something that admittedly had my younger self eager to check this out), the killer needle-drops, and the fact that I would love to own every piece of clothing Stern rocks in this.
This movie is kind of a miracle. Just like BRADY BUNCH MOVIE, Betty Thomas was the Queen and King of “ubmakable projects” (the original Lord/Miller?) and somehow took Stern’s brash, rambling memoir and turned it into a hilarious, heartfelt and even existential comedy.
It shouldn’t work but dammit it does.
Private Parts is certainly a product of its time, but is one of the few sprawling biopics I actually enjoy.
While I haven't tuned in for years I was once a daily Stern listener, before and after he made his move to Sirius radio, so was definitely part of the target audience, even if not immediately upon release.
Still quote from this movie to this day and Giamatti as Pig Vomit is usually good for an MVP. 7.5/10
Paul Giamatti is both the reason I watched it and the reason I didn’t turn it off. Profoundly unfunny.
Watching clips on YouTube of Paul Giamatti's recent appearance on Howard Stern's radio show got me feeling nostalgic and itching to catch up with that old VHS rental favorite, Private Parts. Telling the details of America's favorite shock jock's rise to stardom and paralleling personal struggles, this brash biopic goes the extra mile to both offend and titillate, showing the offensive shock jock as a domesticated but hardly docile family man with a love for his job and his co-workers matched only by his enthusiasm for rock music, lusty lesbians and fart humor.
Truth be told, this is the sort of movie you wouldn't expect to hold up past the year it was released. Aside from general sensibilities changing with…