Live Life Team
“Beavis and Butthead Do America” is creator/director Mike Judge’s full-length feature starring two of the dumbest protagonists in all of film history – Beavis and Butthead.
When their television is stolen, the duo set out on an epic quest to recover their lost love. They wind up in a hotel knocking on random doors, hoping someone will let them watch theirs, and stumble into Muddy (voiced by Bruce Willis) who is so drunk that he confuses them for two conmen he’s hired to murder his wife, Dallas (voiced by Demi Moore). Muddy puts them on a plane to Vegas.
“Do America” is a terrific film, in the same way the Austin Powers films are great. Judge and his writers are totally committed to the film’s stupidity. In fact, they delight in how ridiculous the lead characters are, and almost every other character too for that matter, from Agent Fleming of the ATF (voiced by Robert Stack) and his obsession with full-cavity searches, to the more familiar characters like Mr. Anderson and Principal McVicker.
Similar to the television show, Judge’s humour relies entirely on very rigid rules of irony, in which Beavis and Butthead succeed despite their ignorance, and yet their success cannot betray their ignorance. Writers learn in character development that the plot is driven by their characters’ “ah-ha” moment. But with Beavis and Butthead, there is no “ah-ha” moment. They remain as stupid, perverse, and virginal as ever, despite the universe’s attempt to enlighten them. Luckily, though, “Do America” doesn’t suck.
