TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Python Hyena Private Parts (1997): Dir: Betty Thomas / Cast: Howard Stern, Robin Quivers, Mary McCormack, Paul Giamatti, Carol Alt: Intimate look at controversial radio personality Howard Stern and our commitment to listen. According to the film Stern wanted to be in radio since childhood inspiration of his father. It chronicles his childhood to college where he meets his wife, to small radio jobs. He is soon partnered with Robin Quivers and has bitter battles with station managers. Although it seems self gratifying the film is insightful despite Stern's questionable antics. The film takes its subject seriously as when he attempts to mend his marriage, and the miscarriage that led to unfavourable discussions on his show. Directed by Betty Thomas and easily one of the greatest achievements of her career. Stern is convincing in his self portrait blending reality and humour. Quivers plays herself in her loyalty with Stern as well as her struggle to maintain sane even at the cost of her job. Mary McCormack plays his supportive yet frustrated wife who would like to believe that her husband's on air rantings are just a joke. Paul Giamatti steal scenes as a station manager who falls victim to Stern's perseverance. Carol Alt makes a cameo as a woman reluctantly seated by Stern on a plane but eventually becomes won over. The film argues that there is an ordinary side to Stern that challenges viewers to look beyond the cover. Score: 9 / 10

SnoopyStyle Howard Stern plays himself in his autobiographical movie. Following his MTV Video Awards appearance as Fartman, he believes himself to be hated and misunderstood. He recalls his life as a child being put down by his radio engineer father. He's an awkward teen in a mostly black high school. He becomes a disc jockey at WTBU as a senior at Boston University. There he meets his future wife Alison (Mary McCormack). He struggles to find his voice despite many ups and downs.Stern is actually a very effective actor playing himself. He is self-effacing and awkward dork when he needs to be. He shows that he is more than his radio personality. The movie is solidly good biopic material. He is endearing although there isn't much dangerous edge in this movie. It's hard to say if this is the truth or the cleaned up truth. It's probably close enough to be the truth. It's also a love story with Mary McCormack doing a very good job.

Steve Pulaski Howard Stern is an acquired taste for the diverse and eclectic. Never listening to his radio show, but an avid listener of scattered clips on the internet, I felt Private Parts could give me the proper introduction the man I was looking for. After all, the man has been a radio icon for many years and an FCC bandit for just as long.Like him or not, Stern has changed the face of radio. He has revolutionized the definition of "talk radio." I can't stress enough that I love talk radio. I find it to be not only relaxed but an insightful way to collect information on certain, gray topics. I used to religiously listen to DreX in the Morning, a Chicago-based radio show on WKSC-FM. Once he was gone at the end of 2010 so was I. I couldn't imagine not having him on my radio every morning before I ship myself off for my daily grind. Then in March I quickly turned over to Eddie and Jobo on WJMK-FM. To this day that's my cup of coffee in the morning.Stern has been more controversial than all of three of those men combined. He threatens the very patience of the FCC, and has pretty much thrown caution and restrictions to the wind as he sits in front of the mic and speaks his mind on whatever he wants. Through various warnings and threats made from his station and the FCC, all of which have been dismissed by him, it's pretty clear that as long as there are faithful listeners, Stern isn't concerned with who he offends or what he is faced with.The movie chronicles his life starting at a very young age where we see Stern's father makes an exercise out of verbally abusing his son. This may have contributed to Stern being a very closed book. Not to mention the fact he went to an all black high school, which only made his differences stand out.As years go by, and because of his father's occupation in radio, Stern develops a passion for the airwaves. This is an awkward and unexpected choice from someone who cruised through high school saying almost nothing. The thought of him pioneering a genre of talk radio which focused more on humor than news was not even present at the time because of his very shy nature. After hits and misses at different radio shows, Stern is finally hired by WNBC in New York City where he would wind up in numerous arguments with his station manager nicknamed Pig Vomit (played very well by Paul Giamatti).Stern's run at WNBC in the eighties was where he gained his most popularity and notoriety. After tirelessly working throughout college on their own brand-name radio and at a number of dead end jobs, he finally got the break he deserved. If you can look past his crude, vulgar, shameless persona there lies a sweet, gentle, hilarious side to him. That may have been added since Hollywood is notorious for factoring in little clichés into biopics, but since Stern rejected many, many scripts before settling on this one I assume this one got it to almost pin-point accuracy.I forgot to mention that Stern married the beautiful Alison (McCormack) in 1978 after dating her prolifically throughout his run at WRNR. Alison was the first woman who ever gave Stern the time of day. But Stern makes it very clear being married to him is not an easy task. Stern is notorious for releasing private affairs with his wife over the air, which is what lead to their divorce about four years after this film was made.Private Parts is a provocative look at talk radio and where it was and now is because of Howard Stern. Sometimes it appears as if it is glossing over some events and instances that might have happened during Stern's long run. Surely he had to be suspended a few times, and maybe some of the fights with his wife lead to his expulsion from the house for a few days. But the movie doesn't dive into that as much as it looks at Stern's mark on the radio. Which is what it should look at it. It rarely simplifies the story, and comes out to be a very honest biopic work of art.Starring: Howard Stern, Robin Quivers, Fred Norris, Mary McCormack, and Paul Giamatti. Directed by: Betty Thomas.

headly66 The fact that this was directed by a woman turned what might have been a much raunchier film into a blandish comedy but Howard was probably looking to reach a broader audience at the time. It is a good movie, not great, but mostly a disappointment for Stern fans as it is not a real history of the events that took place. Here's some fake movie history: Luke Perry introduced Howard as Fartman on MTV not John Stamos.Why would Dee Snider make a face at Howard behind stage when they were great friends at the time. Oh by the way, Dee was not even there as Twisted Sister had broke up in 1988, the event was in Sept. of 1992. Neither was Flavor Flav, Ozzy, Blues Traveler, MC Hammer, or Tiny Tim, etc, etc. Also no one treated Howard that way back stage, he was very famous at the time, had a #1 book and many of the same powers to help or hurt peoples careers.There is no song called "Mama Look-A Boo Boo" from the time Howard was driving with his father.The dirty puppet show at the old folks home never happened.They leave out the fact that Howard was doing bits for years before he "discovered himself" and don't show any of the many people he worked with on air over the years in college and up to NBC.Howard was not playing punk music like the Ramones at WRNW, in fact he played mostly disco.Howard did not meet Fred in his first minute on the air at WCCC.Howard was never in a bathtub with Fred and an actress.Howard didn't have long hair until the very end of his time with WNBC.Howard did not quit on the air at WWWW when they went country.Robin did not meet Howard on the air, they had both received tapes of each other prior to meeting and then decided to work together.The on the air orgasm did not happen that way, it was with a small radio and sounded completely different. Technically it could not be done as shown in the movie.Robin was not with Howard at the beginning at NBC as she quit in DC taking a straight news job after not being picked up by WNBC and blamed Howard for abandoning her. So the first night tryout for the Stern crew could never have happened with her. It also did not sound that way, they did not say sperm and gargle with it.Their programmers nickname was pig virus, not pig vomit, why they changed this I have no clue.The prevalence of breast implants is ridiculous in this movie, (girl on phone, girl in studio, girls in lesbian dream) this was not very common in the early 80's especially for women not in the porn or movie industry.In the last scene at the concert (the film says July 27th 1985), Howard looked nothing like this in 1985 nor did Robin. Phil Rudd was not in AC/DC at the time, nor did Stern's wife go into labor. His kids were born in 1983, 1986 and 1993. She wasn't even pregnant at the time, their next child wouldn't be born until May 9, 1986.I really have no problem with movies condensing or changing things a little because of time restraints or creativity but please, when you actually make things up that never happened its a little disconcerting. I mean why don't we just make a movie where Jesus is at the Battle of Waterloo, or John Lennon gets shot on a space ship or George Washington meets Hitler. The sad thing is this happens all the time and people believe its true and take it as history, just look at Braveheart where historical characters are in the same time period even though they lived 200 years apart.Its just sad and stupid.