Gleason

This movie captures the raw Gleason to the point of dislike; however, movie reflects that he was a driven man who knew what the audience wanted...frankly, by their reactions to prior performances. Brad Garrett captures this well and Michael Chieffo is an excellent Art Carney (who should play Carney in his own movie as the man is that convincing.)

When viewing this film pay close attention to the earlier years when Gleason is a boy and the expressions used by his father around the house and in treating his mother. Gleason eventually turns what would be deemed as closet skeletons into humor. Nicely done!

Technically speaking, "Gleason" is an incredible film to watch. Brad Garrett does a terrific job playing Jackie Gleason and the film did a wonderful job of re-creating the look of the old "Honeymooners" shows. But, despite such fine craftsmanship the film suffers from one serious problem...the subject of the film, Jackie Gleason, comes off as a selfish, ugly-spirited jerk with little as a human being to like or appreciate. Because of this, it makes the film tough to stick with until the end. The only thing that keeps you watching is the look and how well it replicated that. Additionally, if you are looking for a complete overview of Gleason's life, you won't find it here. Because of the film's length, it comes off much more episodic and often skips important aspects of his life (such as his second marriage which is never mentioned).

Garrett did a fine job recreating Gleason, including his voice -- although his one attempt at singing as Gleason missed the mark. As biopics go, this one was well shot, but loses points for it's chaotic structure (with far too many jarring flashbacks), key storyline omissions and factual errors. Among the omissions: Gleason's film work (all the way back to the '40s and on to the year before his death), his first TV sitcom ("The Life Of Riley" was a 1949-50 Emmy winner!) and what happened to him between 1956 (when the last non-interview scene supposedly takes place) and his death 30 years later (!). Among the goofs: the wrong cue music (his most-used TV theme was also a hit single for him in 1953, "Melancholy Serenade"; after introducing his variety shows, Jackie'd leave the stage to the strains of "That's A-Plenty", etc.) I was surprised to discover halfway through the film that he was still working the more-or-less small-time; too much screen time was devoted to his early years, which could have been greatly condensed. I also agree with another reviewer that the comedy monologues were uniformly terrible; one wonders why ANY of the audiences shown were laughing at all (except during the "Honeymooners" sequences). It's unfortunate that the producers chose to present Gleason in such a relentlessly negative light. Maybe their view was, "Hey, he's dead. He can't answer back and defend himself. He's from another era than we are so who cares? Let's just trash him." Gleason wouldn't have had the career he did is he was really so hopelessly bad and untalented. If he did have any redeeming qualities, the writers of this film chose to leave them out.

Brad Garrett did an excellent job of portraying Gleason in this movie. I'll admit that this story held a very Poignant spot in my heart. Jackie Gleason not only grew up on Chauncey Street in Brooklyn in the WWI era, so did my Dad. And they actually LOOKED a lot alike, though they did not know each other.

Anyway, in the 50s and 60s Gleason was ever-present on our TV. He was not the Funniest guy alive, but you could tell where he came from, by the characters he invented. The Honeymooners' Brooklyn apartment was sparsely furnished - NO decorations, nothing on the walls. Gleason's irascible temper (probably born out of frustration with his Bus-driver job at $60.00 a week) belied his actual love for his wife, played by Audrey Meadows in the Honeymooners series. She was perfect for the role.

Garrett made up for his not-exactly-resemblance of Gleason, by imitating Gleason's voice and mannerisms to a T. The real-life Gleason was sort of a Bull in a china shop. People said he was hard to like. But that, if you got drunk with him, you'd be best buddies forever. His acquaintances and friends likened looking in his eyes to that of a pig's.

I recommend this movie to those (mostly older) viewers who lived through the 1950s and '60s, and to those who are curious about the man they only knew later in life, from the Burt Reynolds movies. Incidentally, Gleason WAS hailed as a very credible dramatic actor, in serious roles such as Minnesota Fats ("The Hustler"), also starring a YOUNG Paul Newman and as a deaf-mute Janitor in "Gigot". Gleason was, if nothing else, an entirely self-made man and a fascinating character.

Brad Garrett (now an Emmy-winner for "Everybody Loves Raymond") really pulled this off superbly. Judging from the wealth of mannerisms, tics, vocal inflections, attitudes, and body language, it would seem that he made a careful study of Jackie Gleason in the various stages of his life. The hard work paid off in a vivid characterization that really brought the man to life without any cartoon-like exaggerations. The rest of the cast were uniformly good, but if Garrett hadn't managed as well as he did, it would hardly have mattered.

The writing, direction, and cinematography were above average for a TV movie, in my opinion, and I didn't really find the three-level flashbacks all that confusing. As an earlier commentator said, this was a long, turbulent, and wide-ranging life, and the three levels of flashback were an effective way of touching on several different stages of Gleason's life without expanding it to miniseries length.

I too was interested to see if any of Gleason's movie work would be portrayed, as I have fond memories of "Soldier in the Rain," "The Hustler," "Requiem for a Heavyweight," and that strange film where he tried to do a Chaplinesque turn as a mute simpleton, "Gigot." I'm guessing that in the interest of keeping it under two hours, and in consideration of the fact that most people see Gleason as a TV star first and foremost, that part of the story was jettisoned. It would have been interesting, though.

Before having seen it, I'd read some statements cautioning avid "Honeymooners" fans that they might be annoyed with the recreations in this film. I can see what they were talking about, in that several scenes from the show about Ralph getting a TV set were smooshed together into a single scene. While it managed to get the most memorable lines from the show together in a single compact scene, it could be a bit off-putting to those who know the shows so well that they've memorized the scripts (that's me, I'm afraid). The overall excellence of the production, and Garrett's outstanding performance, made this a forgivable sin for me.

Gleason's personality is not shown in a particularly good light in this piece. He is portrayed as being insecure, egocentric, petty, tyrannical, abrasive, possessive, and yet aloof from even his closest friends and colleagues. From everything I've read about the man, that's pretty much true. I still love Gleason and the expansive, lovable, down-to-earth everyman character he created for himself, even if I know it's not really true, but it tends to confirm my suspicion that it's always best to worship your heroes from afar.