Ne’er-do-wells unite

The Simpsons take the big screen by poking fun at every nook and cranny of American culture | Priya Abraham

On the big screen, at last, Simpsonophiles have their questions answered: Can the Simpsons, the 18-year, 400-episode TV sitcom, successfully transition from half-hour cheekiness to 90-minute mayhem? Do the characters grow? Will Homer just say no to doughnuts?

Answers: Yes, sort of, and of course not.

The Simpsons Movie (rated PG-13 for irreverent humor throughout) is a snappy ode to Springfield and its yellow horde, and its creators did well to sequester its best on-the-minute gags from the taciturn trailers that have run for months. Even the plot is pretty decent, though it's just the Velcro for multiple animated shenanigans.

Comfortingly, the familiar TV tropes play over even in the plot. The mayor has sealed off the dangerously polluted Springfield Lake, but when Homer has to dispose of his silo of pig, uh, refuse (with free doughnuts beckoning), he hurriedly dumps it into the brackish water. That's the final poison, and the lake produces a mutated squirrel, prompting the EPA to enclose Springfield in a giant glass dome ("D'Ohhhhhhh . . . me").