There is reason to rejoice; Robert De Niro has a role worthy of his talents.
After what seems like a decade's worth of demeaning punchline roles -- Dirty Grandpa was the nadir but The Family was pretty bad -- broken up by the occasional part in a David O. Russell ensemble, De Niro absolutely kills it as Jackie Burke, a marginalized insult comic (in the mold of Don Rickles) who hit his career peak years ago in a derivative sitcom that continues to define his audience's expectations.
Apparently De Niro and producer Art Linson planned on making a film about this character for years, and De Niro spent hours researching the cadences and attitudes of stand-ups working in clubs. That he's thoroughly convincing in the role is a little surprising; though De Niro has always been a deft hand at cinematic comedy (remember his early turn in Brian De Palma's Hi, Mom! and his dark turn as the deranged comic Rupert Pupkin in Martin Scorsese's King of Comedy), one imagines that to be a pretty steep learning curve. It's like he became a violin virtuoso for the film.
And director Taylor Hackford -- who has also been on a bad run lately -- makes great use of De Niro's surprising chops, allowing him plenty of stage time. In fact, the film begins with Jackie in a suburban comedy shop, performing alongside other former TV stars (Jimmie "Dy-no-mite!" Walker and Grace Under Fire's Brett Butler) to a sparse crowd. Jackie's set is interrupted by a heckler who at first seems annoyed that Jackie isn't doing any of his old TV material. But it turns out the guy's real motivation is to goad Jackie into responding so the incident can be filmed and incorporated into the heckler's web series. When Jackie responds (with abrupt violence) he ends up in court, and eventually does a 30-day stretch in jail (although the viral video raises his profile and mildly boosts his career).
When he gets out, he meets much younger Harmony (Leslie Mann) at a soup kitchen where, as part of his sentence, he's doing community service. She's also doing a court-ordered stint after a similar violent outburst. Jackie immediately begins to pursue her and, while she's resistant at first, she's intoxicated by his minor celebrity and the way he can command a room with his comedy. He takes her to his niece's same-sex wedding where he delivers a tour-de-force roasting of the newlyweds that ends on a lovely, affecting note, and she responds by introducing him to her father (Harvey Keitel), an old fan of Jackie's TV show.
And for about 90 minutes, the movie retains a naturalistic handle on things. Harmony likes Jackie but knows she has no future with him, while he seems determined not to throw away what might be his last shot at romance. We are able to understand these characters -- they don't act in the strange yet predictable ways people generally do in romantic comedies. And the various supporting roles are filled with wonderful actors. Danny DeVito and Patty LuPone play Jackie's brother and sister-in-law -- roles that might have been conceived as broad comic relief -- with a satisfying precision. While we might wonder why all the Italian actors are playing a Jewish family (it would be my first question for screenwriters Art Linson, Richard LaGravenese, Lewis Friedman and Jeffrey Ross), the dynamic between them feels right. LuPone is especially good as a woman who long ago determined she'd rather give ulcers than receive them.
That said, The Comedian is otherwise just OK; a movie about a queasy-making romance that understands it's about a queasy-making romance. It's smart, but the narrative isn't terribly compelling, even as the performances induce good feelings. We get a little bit of Richard Belzer, a nicely brittle dash of Cloris Leachman, and some Hannibal Buress and Gilbert Gottfried as set dressing. Unfortunately the movie isn't as sharp in the third act, which takes place mainly in Florida, and goes completely off the rails in an unfunny final scene.
Maybe that's not enough to undo the good will it earns early on. It's a gimmick -- but an enjoyable one -- that has some of De Niro's old co-stars Keitel, Billy Crystal and Charles Grodin showing up to evoke the somewhat better films they made with the star. Of these Grodin fares best, nimbly handling the part of one of Jackie's contemporaries, a guy who has been more successful despite having less talent. Keitel's part, as an old mob bookie gone straight, borders on caricature as written but comes alive in the actor's tentative grin. And Crystal plays himself in a neat cameo that might have been ad-libbed.
But if The Comedian's charms are minor, by the standards of early February it is an absolute gem -- not exactly a must-see, but if you've run through your pre-Oscar viewing list and want to go to a movie this weekend, it's likely your best available option.
MovieStyle on 02/03/2017