Beavis and Butt-head Do America

Beavis and Butt-head Do America (1996)

Genres - Comedy  |   Sub-Genres - Buddy Film, Gross-Out Comedy, Road Movie  |   Release Date - Dec 20, 1996 (USA)  |   Run Time - 82 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - PG13
  • AllMovie Rating
    6
  • User Ratings (0)
  • Your Rating

Share on

Review by Derek Armstrong

Mike Judge should have started planning a Beavis and Butthead movie the moment he heard the first fan imitate that trademark moronic giggling. But those impersonations were earning punches in the shoulder by the time Beavis and Butthead Do America hit theaters, and the show was gone from MTV's programming schedule. Still, Judge and his stunted partners in crime had the last laugh, as it were. Popular enough to quiet talk of its irrelevance, Beavis and Butthead Do America is a road movie of sublime wit, benefiting from a clever enough plot and the game cooperation of such vocal talents as Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, and Robert Stack. No two causes could better inspire the dim-witted duo on a cross-country journey than a stolen TV and the promise of sex, and in the course of their travels, they are mistaken for terrorist masterminds and professional hit men. All of this is carried off with relative plausibility, thanks to a script that has them unwittingly escaping capture at every turn. In fact, the beauty of the movie is that they never know they're being followed, constantly operating on blissful, false pretenses. Judge lets loose with some big-screen quality animation, including a warped montage of the parched pair's desert hallucinations. The film also contains sly commentary on the youthful sarcasm of its target audience, as various characters continually mistake the duo's clueless statements for mocking irony and criminal brilliance. Of course, the film could never forsake its toilet humor roots -- and the simple fact is, when Butthead mispronounces a highway sign for Butte, MT, it's still pretty funny.