The Comedian (2017)
Rated R
Starring Robert DeNiro, Leslie Mann, Danny DeVito, Patti LuPone, Edie Falco, Charles Grodin,
Directed by Taylor Hackford
The Story:
Jack Burke (DeNiro) is an aging insult comic who is relegated to playing small clubs because that's all his manager (Falco) can get him booked for. However, when he's booked for assault, his community service leads him to new opportunities, both personally and professionally.
I guess the biggest question from this film would be "what went wrong"?
The cast, including those named above and those that I didn't list are a phenomenal group of actors and real life comedians.
Yet the biggest complaint of this movie is that it isn't funny.
I don't think it was supposed to be.
It's a dramedy.
There is humor in it, but the proceedings aren't slapstick fall down funny.
Perhaps it wasn't dramatic enough, or funny enough, as it tries to tow the line and be the best of both worlds.
Or perhaps it's the romantic subplot between Jack and Harmony (Mann) who meet during community service?
Not sure.
It wasn't a must-see movie, but it held my attention throughout.
I laughed at the actually funny parts, and it held my interest through the dramatic.
Hey, I didn't turn the movie off, and since I consider that a sign of a really bad movie, it can't be all bad.
So it's not exactly what went wrong, more of what could they have done better?
I think the biggest thing, as an insult comic, the world has to love the man doing the insults.
See Don Rickles.
In this movie, nobody liked Jack, except his old fans, and they only liked the old sitcom Jack, a character he was desperately trying to forget.
So if you start with an unlikable character, you're already facing an uphill battle to earn the love from the audience.
It's a hard balance to achieve, and I think that all things considered, they did the best job possible.
Final Grade: C+
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