Comedian
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Movie Reviews of Comedian
Movie Review: Well, Whatever Makes You Unhappy
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a very atmospheric documentary that absolutely nails the subject. It's about Seinfeld and Orny Adams. A guy on the way down from the top, a guy on his way up, on some level. It's not that Jerry is finished, but you don't go back to that peak again.
So, being a comedian is maybe 10 years of working on and with an hour or so of material. The hard part is getting the material, but also delivering it and having some star quality, or at least personality. So if Adams makes a dozen appearances on Leno, he might have that many segments out of his hour of material. The material might be 10 years old, but it's new to TV. Adams has an interesting website, ornyadams.
It's not a pursuit for the happy. It's a pursuit for the gnawing perfectionist. It's truly touching to see Adams finally make it to Letterman only to be told the Lupus joke has to be a psoriasis joke. We've never told why. Does it mean anything? No, That's Entertainment, apparently. I guess if I were a comic, I would rather be Louis Black. Where he exists, the rules are not so strict. This sidebar in how denatured the mainstream media are is interesting.
More than half the movie is about Seinfeld. The 'catch' goes back to the HBO special, where he buries the old material. Now he is starting anew. It's an odd process. Seinfeld is different. The material is different. Seinfeld's story isn't terribly compelling, but it's interesting. He flies around on a very nice private jet. He's a funny man, but it seems doubtful he would ever be the cutting edge of comedy. We like old comics, whether Klein or Cosby or Carlin. These guys do other things, like awards shows.
This film paints a wonderful portrait of New York at night, although I'm sure it only shows one small aspect. There are a lot of things in this film.
Movie Review: Who is this guy Seinfeld...
Summary: 5 Stars
Back in the last millenium this fellow Seinfeld apparently had a tv show. Who knew? The best part of this movie is the commentary by Jerry.
Seinfeld's obsession with pettiness, materialism, fame, money, name-dropping and everything wrong with America is rivetting. It's like watching a car crash: you can't turn away. Seinfeld needed to show his private jet (several times), his entourage, his penthouse view of Central Park, his private beach and his other possessions (like his pretty wife and child) to prove to us all that he is where it's at. He obviously doesn't believe it himself. In his words, "The dream of every Jewish man is to own a home in Malibu". How much more out of touch can you get. Even Sadaam Husein showed more humility. The psychopathology that forms this kind of narcissistic demon is revealled in the homunculus that is Orny Adams. A foil to the materially successful Seinfeld, Adams is a purely dysthymic, neurotic egotist. The contrast is presumably intended to highlight Jerry's success against the odds of an industry that delights in degrading and humiliating its workers. The Comedians in this movie are paid poorly, forced to work in smelly, decrepit clubs in seedy neighborhoods to rude and unappreciative audiences. We should all feel sorry for them. But we have to really feel for Jerry (or so he believes) because he is driven by an angst to toil his craft even when he has the creature comforts to relax on a beach. In reality, we should pity Seinfeld for having become so enmeshed in the bicoastal despiritualistic obsession with celebrity that he feels a need to create a documentary channeling his deeper disaffection with his own empty existance and seeking a greater salvation by reminding us all that we are not him.
Very funny.
Movie Review: An honest look inside a performer's psyche
Summary: 5 Stars
Like other viewers, I rented this expecting it to have more 'comedy' with the documentary, but instead was treated to a refreshingly honest behind-the-scenes look at what makes comics tick. For those who don't have (or never had) aspirations to be a performer, this may not be terribly interesting. The myriad of emotions, frustrations, self-doubt, ambition, and underappreciated hard work that goes into the 'performance' is not limited to comics, but to just about anyone involved in a creative endeavor. As an aspiring actor and musician myself, it is reassuring in a strange way that the emotional roller-coaster one endures with the creative process doesn't really change for those who have become successful AND are still dedicated to their craft such as Jerry Seinfeld.In defense of Orny, the love/hate relationship he has for his audience, his work, and those around him is not unique to him or comics in general - but is something that many performers grapple with constantly. The difference is that Orny verbalizes them for all to hear and see. Hearing his contempt for an audience or for critics giving blunt advice when he's having a bad day is not arrogance - it's an all too familiar defensiveness that many performers feel at that moment when there's self-doubt, because it's hard not to take everything personally when there's so much hard work and sacrifice involved, with career progress measured in baby steps - which is probably why many of you may not hear about Orny for a while, because its a LONG hard road.
As a documentary it did its job: it was honest in tone and spirit to its subject matter.
Movie Review: People have actually reviewed the Bible on this site.
Summary: 5 Stars
If you ever thought about the fact that once you date someone, then break up, you have a history. Once that history exists you will "never" be the same 2 people again. This intangible history that causes people to wind up on Springer begging the fat girl to take him back, and the fat girl says mean things to him when she once danced for him and made his favorite desert on his birthday. Then the guy finds himself sitting in prison after shooting his fat ex girlfriend thinking, "if I could just get that millisecond of my life back, if I could just get back that millisecond of squeezing a trigger shooting my fat ex after we taped Springer". "If I could get that millisecond of subtle finger squeezing back, then I would have another chance to convince my fat ex that we could get the tingles again". If you ponder thoughts like this, Comedian will be a good thing for you to devote a chunk of your life to watch.I watched carefully and did not spot Kaufman in the background of any shot. I plan to take some time to slow-mo shots to verify this.
Once comedian was over I was compelled to ordered 3 tickets to Bill Cosby at Clowes Hall in Indianapolis. We plan to take a woman whose young husband died of a heart attack 3 years ago. We took her to Gallagher last year and she had a ball. For that evening she slipped out of that "repeat stories from your childhood and talk about the weather" shell. This woman will spend the remainder of her life with memories of seeing Bill Cosby in person and the feelings it brought to her. This is the power of Comedian.
Movie Review: Very honest, very generous
Summary: 5 Stars
I was warned away from this DVD by the teenager at the video store who said "it wasn't funny". Well. Making stuff is hard. Making good stuff is really hard. I'm in the arts (though not the performing arts) and I'm always wondering what other artist's are thinking as they work through ideas. Is is uncertain and complicated for them, too? It's heartening to hear a contemporary master say "yes". And it's inspiring to see Seinfeld take the risk of retiring ALL his previous material and start from scratch (and then, for pete's sake, filming what happens). All artist's should probably burn their portfolios at mid-career and start fresh but how many have the breathtaking nerve to really do it?
This isn't a DVD of Seinfeld performing. We hear only snippets of performances since this is a study of the backstage efforts and there are many honest moments of doubt, nervousness and excitement. And yeah, humor. The scene, early on, where he's standing on stage and completely draws a blank about what to say next, consults his notes, paces, but simply can't get his thoughts together is funny and humbling and worth more than any motivational text about braving anxiety.
Oh, about Orny. I don't think whether the viewer finds him likable or not is really the issue. Orny's arrogance and striving is an excellent counterpoint to Seinfeld's more grounded, low-key manner and gave the documentary some nice contrast. Like him or not, he seemed authentic. Who hasn't known a guy like Orny?