Review: The Comedian
There are frequent glimmers of a good film in The Comedian. At its best moments, it feels like a spiritual cousin to Louis CK's Louie, an often dark study that observes both character and milieu. Unfortunately, there's something not quite right with its tone.
Robert De Niro plays Jackie Berkowitz, a seventysomething insult comedian still scrounging around the comedy circuit. There's a lot of life left in this old dog, yet he can't shake off the character of Eddie, the Archie Bunker-like role that made him famous almost three decades earlier. Fans expect him to be Eddie, constantly asking him to say his catchphrase ("Arlene!") or humming the theme tune to his show. During one stand-up show, he's intentionally goaded by a heckler, who is unknowingly filming Jackie for his own web podcast, and ends up serving a month-long stint in jail for assault.
At the soup kitchen where he does his court-mandated community service, he meets Harmony (Leslie Mann), who is there doing her time for having attacked her ex and the woman he was sleeping with behind Harmony's back. The two form a bond - she accompanies Jackie to his niece's wedding where she nearly gets into a brawl with his frosty sister-in-law (Patti LuPone), and he has dinner with Harmony and her father (Harvey Keitel), a huge fan of Jackie's who nevertheless belittles Jackie and Harmony, the latter of which he strong-arms into returning to Florida to do her remaining hours at the retirement community he owns.
The spark between De Niro and Mann runs the gamut from antagonistic to romantic, and convincingly segues from something akin to a father-daughter bond to one between two kindred spirits. Yet, their relationship is primarily a springboard to view Jackie as he interacts with the people in his life, whether it be trading zingers with fellow comics (an exchange between Jackie and Jessica Kirson is a particular highlight) or navigating complicated relationships with his put-upon brother (Danny DeVito) or manager (Edie Falco). Part of the fun of the film is watching the parade of star cameos, which reunite De Niro with many of his previous co-stars including Keitel, Billy Crystal and Charles Grodin.
The film goes slightly off the rails in its second half, with Jackie finding unlikely renewed success off a viral video of his puerile reworking of "Makin' Whoopee" and being pegged to be the host of an unpleasant reality show. The Comedian never quite gets a grasp on the story it wants to tell - is it a character study, a redemption arc, a social commentary, an exploration on public and private personas - but it does the needful and sometimes that's enough.
The Comedian
Directed by: Taylor Hackford
Written by: Art Linson, Jeffrey Ross, Richard LaGravanese, Lewis Friedman
Starring: Robert De Niro, Leslie Mann, Edie Falco, Harvey Keitel, Danny DeVito, Patti LuPone, Hannibal Buress, Cloris Leachman, Jim Norton, Charles Grodin, Billy Crystal, Veronica Ferres
