SO why WOULD anyone bother to buy a cinema ticket to see what they can see for 'free' on the TV?

That's the question rather cleverly put by Homer to the audience early on in The Simpsons Movie now showing at a cinema near you.

And it's a difficult one to answer. Doh!

It has taken nearly 18 years and 400 episodes later to get the Simpson family onto the big screen - so what did we expect? Nothing more than we got really.

A giant-sized Homer, Bart et al, plenty of laughs, and what seemed shorter than the hour and a half episode it was.

Anyone who expected more is, well, stoopid! What else COULD we get? 3D Homer? Free donuts?

So now we're not disappointed, what was the film like?

Well, it had a topical storyline and some characters we can relate to, just like the TV.

This time it's the green question and pollution and its Homer who has put his big foot - or rather his newly acquired pet pig's poo - into it once again by polluting Springfield's lake so badly that the government has to take action. Doh!

In steps president Arnie Schwarzenegger who has to make a decision on what to do from five choices: "I was elected to lead not read," he proclaims, and the decision is made for him to put a giant glass dome over the city to trap the filth and then to blow it up and use the crater as a tourist attraction.

But Maggie is left outside and Marge is "so angry", only to be told "You're a woman - you can hold on to it (the anger) forever!" Only a man - cartoon or human - could say that ... Doh!

The town turns lynch mob on the family and in some of the best action from the movie, they manage to escape outside through the same sinkhole as Maggie and decide to move to Alaska - but not before Homer's big gut gets stuck in the hole. Double doh!

But Marge and family are homesick and return to Springfield and without spoiling all the story, our heros save the day and all live happily ever after.

There are jokes galore for the opening third, with the writers taking it out on the institutions and public figures as usual, but it drags a little in the middle and gets almost soppy and sentimental before bursting into action again.

And there are stories within the story, as Lisa, who is green campaigning in Springfield, falls for a young Irish man - no, he's not Bono's son.

And she puts on an environmental presentation in the town hall called 'An Irritating Truth' with the obvious swipe at Al Gore.

And then there's Bart, fed up with Homer's treatment, who longs to be treated like the kids nextdoor.

One of the funniest sketches is early on when Homer bets Bart he won't ride naked on his skateboard through the town.

The efforts the artists make to avoid showing his yellow private parts to the audience are hilarious. Brilliant!

So was it funny? Yes. Did we enjoy it? Yes. Were we disappointed? No.

Should there be another, Simpsons Movie 2? No. Will there be? Probably, yes.

And it was a night out so go and have a laugh. Doh!

HARRIS DEE