John Waters, love him or hate him, has made a career out of pushing buttons. From the gross-out competition of Pink Flamingos (culminating in mainstay Divine indulging in a little coprophagia.), to the civil-rights jabs of Hairspray, or the sheer lunacy of dialogue and characters in Polyester (in Odorama!), he is rarely one to shy away from offending others. When Fine Line Pictures gave him the go-ahead to release his latest film, A Dirty Shame, as an NC-17 picture (usually the kiss of death in the cinemas), Waters responded by making easily the most absurd, outlandish, and genuinely funny picture in years.

Sylvia Stickles (wonderfully played by Tracey Ullman), is your standard prudish housewife. She works at her convenience store, Pinewood Park ‘n’ Pay with her mother Big Ethel (Suzanne Shepherd) and husband Vaughn (a lovably dopey Chris Isaak). After resisting her husband’s amorous advances (yeah, a woman spurning Chris Isaak. That’s believable.), Sylvia drives to work, noticing something is amiss on her suburban block of Harford Road: a trio of homosexual "bears" is moving in down the street, a man retrieves his morning paper sans pants, and everywhere she looks people are simply horny. An accident (fate, perhaps?) gives her a concussion and delivers her right into the arms of Ray-Ray (Johnny Knoxville), who helps her understand her newly stoked fires of passion (conveyed through the visual pun of a "burning bush." Brilliant!), despite confusion on the part of her husband and outright repression on the part of the straight-laced Neuters. Ray-Ray is a holy man of sorts, a procreative prophet who, with his group of amorous apostles, hopes to awaken the sexuality of the world through the discovery of a new sex act. I won‘t say exactly what this new act is, but suddenly the late Wesley Willis seems even more ahead of his time than before.

Let’s get this right out of the way: if you’re not a fan of John Waters rather puerile humor, you’ll find even less to like in A Dirty Shame than in some of his more "accessible" fare like Serial Mom or Pecker. The jokes range from silly visual gags to outright grossness, and they come in thick and fast. However, I was certainly not one to complain, as I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much in a single 90-minute period. Absolutely nothing is sacred to Waters, who skewers sexuality and religion in one fell swoop. The religious will be deeply offended by Johnny Knoxville’s over-the-top (albeit well-played) turn as a fire-and-brimstone pervert, who gathers his disciples to help him convert the world to a new Sodom. Genitals are less-than-subtly placed in rocks, shrubs, even the crotch (Bam!) of a tree. Nudity and sexual content litter every frame (Yay!), and there’s something to make even the hardiest viewer at least gape in shock, then roar with laughter.

Even more amazing is the awesome ensemble cast Waters assembled. Tracy Ullman’s turn as a housewife-turned-whore is marvelous, with her acting even the most absurd moments without going completely over-the-top. Selma Blair manages to do the same, despite wearing the most ridiculous fake breasts I’ve ever seen (her name is Ursula Udders, after all). Suzanne Shepherd is overly stodgy, Chris Isaak is intensely likable, and even David Hasselhoff makes an appearance in the most absurd cameo I’ve seen since Bob Saget in Half-Baked. Everyone obviously had a blast doing this movie, and it shows. Waters pulls some amazing stuff out of his casts, and it shows especially clear here. His direction is even more inspired and fun that ever before, with pseudo-subliminal messages (H-A-R-L-O-T) flashing on the screen, picture-in-picture flashbacks, and outright audiovisual assaults (which smacked of a Something Weird demo reel) to convey the sexual awakening of his characters. Sure, Waters’ formula of the spunky underdogs fighting against the moral majority in a dysfunctional suburbia is becoming a tad predictable, but who the hell goes to see his films for edge-of-your-seat thrills? Formulaic or not, it’s never less than 100% enjoyable.

For those who like their humor campy and foul, A Dirty Shame is certainly a great way to spend a couple hours of your life. It’s ridiculous, silly, and even at its most serious, thoroughly tongue-in-cheek.

Or tongue-in-some-other-soft-pink...never mind.

Thumbs up.