Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Private Parts Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 3, 2020

Private Parts pulls down the pants on shock jock Howard Stern, one of radio's biggest stars and a man whose on-air antics have entertained countless millions through the years. But unlike most biopics, Private Parts stars Stern himself, as well as several others from his radio inner circle, allowing for the most authentic Stern story possible. It's a story of humble beginnings, big dreams, hard work, and eventually the payoff of fame and fortune. But Stern's life is not about living the persona off the air...not all the time, anyway. The film works to ensure audiences see the other side, the tenderhearted married man who remains faithful to his wife even through temptations that torture his very essence. Stern makes the movie fun. His personality shines through, the jokes always hit, and the movie is sure to both win over new fans and delight longtime listeners.

Howard Stern (playing himself) has always dreamed of working in radio. But he might not have the talent for it. His first real job on the air does not go well. He throws his voice a bit and shows little talent. His manager takes him off the air but turns him into the station’s program manager, at a significant pay raise. The station’s fortunes turn around, even if he’s just winging it on the job and bringing little but passion for music and a desire to stay in good graces to eventually get back on the air. But he’s not happy. He quits the job and moves to Hartford when an on-air opportunity arises, to return to where he’s more comfortable and where he always wanted to be: behind the microphone. But when he comes dangerously close to sleeping with a sexy B-movie actress (Melanie Good), his wife Allison (Mary McCormack) leaves him. Howard moves to Detroit to jockey for one of the nation’s largest stations, Allison comes back, and things are looking up. But when his station shifts from Rock to Bluegrass, he quits.

Tired of moving around, he decides to move to Washington, D.C. and let himself loose, to be the jockey he always wanted to be: shocking, bold, uninhibited. There, he meets Robin Quivers (herself), destined to be his sidekick through a long and illustrious career. With her at his side, he finely hones his “shock jock” routine. The schtick clicks and he lands a gig at New York’s prestigious WNBC, but Howard finds that being on the top doesn’t save him from attacks on his style, even as ratings grow and his star shines ever brighter. Ultimately, Stern finds himself at odds with WNBC execs, including Kenny Rushton (Paul Giamatti), who is charged with reigning the star in, which only compels Howard to push the envelope further and further with every new broadcast.

Director Betty Thomas crafts a technically sound movie but wisely leans out of the way to let her stars shine, to do what they do and do what got the movie off the ground to begin with. Stern's personality is really the one and only draw, and that the magnetism brings with it the other essentials means that he's really all the movie needs. Stern has made his living and his life as, essentially, a detached voice, and that the movie allows greater access is really only icing on the cake. But the story is engaging, the humor is hearty, and the performance is authentic because there is no performance. Stern is as comfortable on the screen as he is on the air and the film thrives because of the personality shining through, the chemistry between he and his staff always in evidence, and the excellent support performances from outside actors like Paul Giamatti and Mary McCormack who naturally fall into character and into Stern's life as his greatest challenge and his greatest love, respectively.

Private Parts Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Private Parts rolls onto Blu-ray with a pleasant and proficient 1080p transfer. Grain management is excellent. It's even, consistent, and accentuating of the picture's natural filmic structure. There are a few pops and speckles here and there interrupting the excellence, but rarely to a truly intrusive level. Details are excellent. The picture is clear, robust, and perfectly cable of revealing fine skin textures, the depth and detail of Howard's curly hair, and textures all around the various broadcast booths, from the simple lines and elements in Howard's first job to the more dense and complex and advanced equipment in the D.C. studio. Colors are even and pleasant, delivering well rounded contrast, healthy skin tones, natural clothing hues, and holding steady to the darker colors that populate the higher end radio studios, interrupted by various light sources on consoles and the like. Black levels are slightly light at times but on the whole the image looks terrific. Add the absence of troubling encode issues and fans are going to be thrilled with Paramount's Private Parts Blu-ray.

Private Parts Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Private Parts crashes the airwaves with a capable DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music springs to life on several occasions, notably when Howard makes the move to New York in chapter 21, the scene bursting with robust width, healthy immersion, and terrific detail. The track additionally delivers positive atmospherics, some more pronounced than others, but all with superior spacing and detail. Thunder rolls with natural presence across the backs in chapter five, and in chapter 30 microphone reverb and crowd din present with healthy immersion and clarity. There's a solid low end response during the "radio sex" scene in chapter 16, one of the film's most famous moments and the track's best explosion of low end content. Dialogue is crystal clear, whether in the radio booth or out in the world. It's vigorous, detailed, center grounded, and well prioritized at all times.

Private Parts Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Private Parts contains no supplemental content. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Private Parts Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Private Parts is a hearty and endlessly entertaining peek inside Howard Stern's life and growth from humble disc jokey to the king of the airwaves. That so many of the real people, including Stern himself, populate the movie only adds to its richness and the ease with which it presents the personality for all to enjoy. The movie is well paced, funny, and even enjoys a layer of dramatic undercurrent to solidify the shenanigans. Paramount's Blu-ray is disappointingly featureless but the video and audio presentations are first-class. Recommended.