"This joke is a friend to every comedian in the world," says Billy Connolly, one of a hundred or so funny people (Jon Stewart, Harry Shearer, Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, Eric Idle, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock, Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robin Williams among them) who all give their own inimitable spin on The Joke. Only the punchline ("...the Aristocrats!") remains the same - the rest is up for improv.

Ironically, the joke ("A guy goes into a talent agent's office...") isn't that funny in itself. It is, as always, the way they tell it - the more obscene and the more offensive the better, and preferably involving shit, piss, spunk, vomit, fisting, incest, midgets and, of course, donkeys. The Aristocrats is a one-joke movie in the purest sense and, inevitably, it wears thin pretty quickly. But Kevin Pollak's spot-on Chris Walken impression plus several inspired variations on the theme - as a card trick, by a mime, a brainstorm by the writers of The Onion - make the journey worthwhile.

The film ends by hinting that viewers' own versions will wind up on the DVD, but the extras only include two examples, with the rest made up of outtakes (a silent Terry Gilliam, a rapping Ron Jeremy), even more dirty jokes and, best of all, a one-hit "compilation" Aristocrats gag which effectively saves you from watching the movie.

DVD Extras:

Director's commentary
Comedians' favourite jokes
Outtakes
Easter Eggs