This lowbrow feature serves as a prequel to the critically acclaimed Comedy Central TV series that ran from 1999-2001. The protagonist is Jerri Blank (Sedaris), a former junkie, prostitute and convict who returns to finish high school. She's either 46 or 47 years old, depending on whom you ask.
Apparently, many people really enjoy this sort of thing. Judging from the string of cameos (Matthew Broderick, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ian Holm, Sarah Jessica Parker), even talented people are fans of the show. The movie does little to explain why.
The problem with adapting a sitcom into a feature film is that there must be some semblance of a plot. Here we begin with Jerri being released from prison and coming home to find that an unsympathetic stepfamily has taken over the house while her father lies comatose. It seems that the shock and grief caused by this foul-mouthed, drug-addled whore running away as a teenager was too much for him to take. When her reappearance triggers a mild response, our heroine decides to pick up her life right where she left off. This involves re-enlisting in high school and entering the science fair. That's pretty much it.
The real point of this exercise appears to be to get away with as much debauchery onscreen as possible. From time to time, the jokes actually stick, but a few witticisms do not a movie make.
By and large, we're forced to deal with a racist, homophobic and altogether offensive sense of humor. Perhaps if there were a point to all this besides pushing the boundaries of an R-rating, there would be something to discuss. Writer-director-star Paul Dinello has admitted that many of the creative decisions during filmmaking were chemically fueled. Now I realize what I was missing.