Early in "Idiocracy," director Mike Judge treats the viewer to a glimpse of entertainment in his bleak, dumbed-down future. A popular television show consists of nothing but a character repeatedly taking shots to the crotch. There's hardly a storyline, just a haphazard series of events leading to each opportunity for laughter.

In a similar vein, Judge's movie (just out on DVD) is a collection of one-liners, outrageous characters and sight gags stitched together with little regard for plot. Like many comedies, the storyline is subordinate to the jokes and serves merely as a way to shuttle the viewer from one bit of satire to the next.

Judge's sarcastic humor is well thought out and is certainly a far cry from the gags on "Oww My Balls," the fictional TV show that populates "Idiocracy." But "Idiocracy" delivers its comedy through same virtually nonexistent framework that Judge mocks.

At the movie's core is a series of hilarious encounters between Luke Wilson's protagonist and individuals who should be society's most intelligent and dynamic. Of course, they're all morons. A doctor's diagnosis trails off into mumbles of "like" and "you know," a judge asks rhetorically if the court can't "come up with a verdict up in here" and the president of the United States uses a brand of rhetoric heavy on crotch grabs.

Judge also harshly critiques the way that present-day commercialism insinuates itself in our culture. These days, it's hard to find a TV show, celebrity or a sporting event that's not sponsored somehow. Imagine this phenomenon run outrageously amok and trampling over a population dulled by increasingly lower IQs. That's Judge's view of the future.

People water crops with a sports drink because the slogan claims "It's what plants crave." Big-box retailers double as law schools, fast food companies can take custody of delinquent customers' children and casual clothing has been replaced by collages of corporate logos.

Many scenes are replay worthy, and already one can find the movie's memorable lines corralled in blogs and MySpace pages. But it's a forgettable and contrived set of circumstances that moves Wilson from the hospital to the courtroom to the White House.

At times, it feels like Judge emptied his notebook of rueful observations on society; when the jokes are exhausted, the momentum flags. As such, it's the perfect movie to watch on DVD. You barely need to view the scenes in order, and the last quarter of the movie can be skipped altogether.

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asap reporter Jonathan Drew is based in New York.

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