The Onion Movie is the latest in Fox's line of films adaptated from the seemingly unadaptable. In the last few years, the boys at Fox have brought viewers both Fast Food Nation, based on a non-fictional examination of the fast food industry, and The Darwin Awards, based on a collection of incidents where people died in the dumbest of ways. Now comes The Onion Movie, which uses the satirical newspaper of the same name as its jumping-off point. Happily, it's something to be appreciated in all its immature, irreverent, and flat-out hilarious glory.

In this movie's warped world, the Onion is the prime source for news from around the globe. On a nightly basis, veteran anchor Norm Archer (Len Cariou) reports on all sorts of current events, from a pop singer (Sarah McElligott) whose songs contain extremely suggestive lyrics to a handless and legless NHL player (Kirk Ward). Norm takes pride in maintaining the Onion's journalistic integrity, but such ideals are put in danger after the organization is taken over in a merger by huge conglomerate Global Tetrahedron. Norm's new bosses are less concerned about providing updates on a brewing Middle Eastern war than they are with promoting their new Steven Seagal blockbuster, leaving the seasoned newsman to choose whether to bow to corporate demands or fight for what the Onion always stood for: ludicrously fake news.

How in the world does someone take a newspaper and make a movie out of it? The answer is quite simple. The Onion Movie takes most of its cues from the parody classic The Kentucky Fried Movie. It doesn't follow a straight plot so much, but instead lays out a series of politically-incorrect skits and phony commercials before our eyes. Such an approach is very much hit-or-miss, but thankfully, The Onion Movie succeeds more than it fails, thanks to keeping its sense of humor in check. The script (written by real-life Onion staffers Robert Siegel and Todd Hanson) rarely  feels like it's desperately rooting around for some thin gag to throw onscreen. The film maintains a knack for the satirical, lampooning everything from smoking bans and Hollywood movies to technology and terrorism (parodied through an unexpectedly funny, "Goofus and Gallant"-style training video).

Once in a while, The Onion Movie runs into a skit that either goes on for a little too long or doesn't fit in at all (an extended vignette featuring a nerdy gamer perfectly exemplifies the latter). Even at a running time of less than 80 minutes without credits, the film finds itself with a handful of bits it could easily have done without (or, even considering the flick's "anything goes" philosophy, parts that are a bit too mean). But The Onion Movie maintains a great sense of consistency in its skits, which combine razor-sharp wit with plenty of childish humor (which, at several points, inspires the movie to actually stop and start reviewing itself). Most everything here is done in good fun. 

Some may look upon The Onion Movie as nothing more than a bunch of people showing off their collective fifth-grade sense of humor. But more astute viewers will be able to appreciate The Onion Movie for its wry commentary on the news industry and the world at large, resulting in a film that's a worthy successor to the paper inspiring it. 

MY RATING: *** (out of ****)

(Released by Fox Searchlight Pictures; not rated by MPAA.)