There just isn’t much funny about The Comedian.
Here’s a movie that takes our old friend Robert DeNiro, puts a microphone in his hand and forces him to pretend to be a grizzled, grumpy stand-up comic for large chunks of the film’s 2 hour runtime. He hates his fame. He hates being recognized as the sitcom character he played 30 years ago. He hates getting old and his brother’s wife and other comics and his agent and his fans and ….. et al.
His name is Jackie and he is a 2-dimensional character that Mr. DeNiro has been stuck in too frequently the past decade or so. There is nothing much to like about Jackie. He does not grow much as the film meanders on. He just is. And -worst of all considering the premise- he doesn’t say a single funny thing.
The Comedian is a film made by our out-of-touch elders about being out-of-touch. How does Jackie become relevant again? By becoming “viral”. He continues to have ridiculous situations recorded on i-Phones and dispersed through the thing known as The Internet. Once “viral,” he gets to go on stage and do his abuse humor for the “millennials” who inexplicably chant his name. Silly stuff.
It’s a shame really. Director Taylor Hackford has made some good films in the past. Ray, An Officer and a Gentleman and The Devil’s Advocate illustrate the work of a versatile filmmaker whose prime years may have past. The supporting cast is awesome and it would have been nice if they were given something better to do. Danny DeVito and Harvey Keitel share some scenes with Bobby D. but the opportunity is squandered.
Leslie Mann is the sole spark in the film. She runs circle around the old men around her and delivers a layered performance. She should have been in a better movie.
While the script was co-written by the hilarious Jeffery Ross it fails to capture the inside world of comedy despite the effort. It’s a missed opportunity.