Robert De Niro Leslie Mann Danny DeVito Cloris Leachman Harvey Keitel Edie Falco Patti LuPone
Being truly funny takes talent, and The Comedian misses the mark; there are
a few out-loud laughs in it, but mostly it tries to be funny by saying
outrageous things nearly always with a sexual reference. The movie won’t grab you. Actually, the story is more interesting
than the jokes. Jackie (De Niro)
is looking washed up as a comedian with a television sitcom, “Eddie’s Home”,
which people have so identified with the actor they want to call him Eddie off
stage. And they either want him to
entertain them with more Eddie on the spot (most annoying for him) or try to
impress him with their own rendition of the Eddie character.
Jackie has gotten a lot of mileage as a
stand-up comedian with insults that are supposed to make people laugh, and in
his audiences there are as many horrified looks as there are chuckles. (I suppose we’re supposed to think that
is funny as well.) He’s having a
hard time winding down, and as a result has major anger issues, which land him
in the clink. He just can’t shut
his mouth. His agent (Falco in a
fine performance) is patient with him as the daughter of his former agent, even
though she is the frequent recipient of his bile. She tries her best to get him to shape up and not insult the
people she has gotten to hire him.
During his post prison community service gig,
his path crosses that of Harmony (Mann) with the same anger issues and a daddy complex. Daddy is wealthy Mac Bernstein
(Keitel), whom Jackie finds largely offensive, and the feeling is mutual. Harmony is resistant to Jackie’s
charm—which he can turn on—and his
subtle advances, but she finds his comedy so endearing, she weakens.
The
Comedian has a fine cast who are all at their best. De Niro, Mann, and Keitel are entirely
convincing in their roles.
Leachman is wonderful in her sharp comebacks and the portrayal of a very
old star. De Vito and LuPone make
a great older Jewish couple just wanting to give their daughter a beautiful
wedding and trying to tolerate Jackie’s dependence on them. But the deficient script by Art Linson,
Jeffrey Ross, Richard LaGravenese, and Lewis Friedman gives them little that
actually works, further handicapping the work of Director Taylor Hackford.
There is a major surprise towards the end,
which is meant to give some punch to the emotional and relationship issues, but
the very end is marred by blatantly copying the pièce de résistance from
another well-known film not so long ago.
This is a rather mundane tragic tale of
a comedian.
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