I'm a huge fan of De Niro and Scorsese (at least of how they used to be), but I feel I have to inject a note of dissent here. Such that I can pretty much predict that "0 out of 8 people will find the following comment useful" (you ever notice that nobody ever finds it useful when you pan something?) I remember 'King of Comedy' being released. I was twenty. In the crowds I moved in at the time it was pretty much seen as a success: an audacious departure. And in many ways it comes very close to being that. But nearly a quarter century later, 'King of Comedy' seems to lack real satiric power, and despite some great acting from De Niro and Lewis, feels like it's lost its way.
De Niro plays Rupert... well, he complains that his name is often misspelled, so you'll excuse me if I don't try here... a delusional, aspiring but talentless fan of Jerry Lewis's 'comedy king' character. Abbetted by an even more deranged female accomplice Rupert kidnaps Jerry, as his only means of getting his break in showbiz.
Early on the movie has a relatively conventional feel. De Niro is genuinely chilling (as well as embarrassing) as the gormless Rupert. Lewis's stoic grumpiness is perfect, too. It's when you begin to become aware that the film is straying into black comedy and satire that things start to go a bit awry (for this viewer anyway). Of course it's difficult to get away with being critical of such a movie, because it's possible for anybody to argue that any sequence I see as a blunder is actually not meant to be taken seriously. Nevertheless, I don't feel that Sandra Bernhard's hysterical babbling in her scene alone with Jerry Lewis works either as drama OR comedy, and Rupert's comic abilities seem to improve dramatically overnight for no reason at all.
These aren't my major problems with 'King of Comedy' though. I'll admit it's actually quite riveting a lot of the time, and it's certainly nowhere near either Scorsese or De Niro's worst film (frankly, after the terrible 'Gangs of New York', and the 'Aviator', which could have been made by anyone, I wouldn't really mind if Scorsese chucked it in and stuck to 'directing' Larry David in CYE. And let's not even mention that Dreamworks cartoon.. urrrgh!) Err, yes. This review isn't going very well, is it. Maybe I should just stop now, like in a Monty Python sketch.
OK, my main problem is I don't really see what this movie 'getting at', or in what way it's controversial or audacious. It's black humour doesn't seem that black today, and whatever point it's trying to make about celebrity leaves me with a feeling of 'so what?' I'm sure this would have been more powerful and surprising back in 1983, but if you're looking for a black comedy/drama about TV, 'Network' knocks spots off this, and it's about seven years older (and don't tell me that wasn't a comedy-drama. There's nothing in 'King of Comedy' as funny as the black Marxist terrorists arguing with TV execs about syndication rates).
Oh hell, this review was a mess. I know, I know. 0 out of 8 of you are going to find it useful. That's if you even see it, seeing as how for some reason rave reviews get automatically bumped to the top in this weird system.
It's a decent film with good acting, and is certainly worth watching as a curiosity, but whatever it was trying to be, I just think it didn't quite cut it. In its favour, I can't quite think of anything to outright to compare it with, and it's worth seeing for that reason alone.
De Niro plays Rupert... well, he complains that his name is often misspelled, so you'll excuse me if I don't try here... a delusional, aspiring but talentless fan of Jerry Lewis's 'comedy king' character. Abbetted by an even more deranged female accomplice Rupert kidnaps Jerry, as his only means of getting his break in showbiz.
Early on the movie has a relatively conventional feel. De Niro is genuinely chilling (as well as embarrassing) as the gormless Rupert. Lewis's stoic grumpiness is perfect, too. It's when you begin to become aware that the film is straying into black comedy and satire that things start to go a bit awry (for this viewer anyway). Of course it's difficult to get away with being critical of such a movie, because it's possible for anybody to argue that any sequence I see as a blunder is actually not meant to be taken seriously. Nevertheless, I don't feel that Sandra Bernhard's hysterical babbling in her scene alone with Jerry Lewis works either as drama OR comedy, and Rupert's comic abilities seem to improve dramatically overnight for no reason at all.
These aren't my major problems with 'King of Comedy' though. I'll admit it's actually quite riveting a lot of the time, and it's certainly nowhere near either Scorsese or De Niro's worst film (frankly, after the terrible 'Gangs of New York', and the 'Aviator', which could have been made by anyone, I wouldn't really mind if Scorsese chucked it in and stuck to 'directing' Larry David in CYE. And let's not even mention that Dreamworks cartoon.. urrrgh!) Err, yes. This review isn't going very well, is it. Maybe I should just stop now, like in a Monty Python sketch.
OK, my main problem is I don't really see what this movie 'getting at', or in what way it's controversial or audacious. It's black humour doesn't seem that black today, and whatever point it's trying to make about celebrity leaves me with a feeling of 'so what?' I'm sure this would have been more powerful and surprising back in 1983, but if you're looking for a black comedy/drama about TV, 'Network' knocks spots off this, and it's about seven years older (and don't tell me that wasn't a comedy-drama. There's nothing in 'King of Comedy' as funny as the black Marxist terrorists arguing with TV execs about syndication rates).
Oh hell, this review was a mess. I know, I know. 0 out of 8 of you are going to find it useful. That's if you even see it, seeing as how for some reason rave reviews get automatically bumped to the top in this weird system.
It's a decent film with good acting, and is certainly worth watching as a curiosity, but whatever it was trying to be, I just think it didn't quite cut it. In its favour, I can't quite think of anything to outright to compare it with, and it's worth seeing for that reason alone.