Margaret Cho: I'm the One That I Want

I agree with all the rave reviews of this wonderful film. One thing that stayed with me longest, though, is Cho's brilliantly comic and emotional portrayal of her (self-described) "cool" mom. The layers of outrageous humor and friendly exasperation at first conceal, and eventually reveal, intense two-way love and loyalty. Cho's vignette about her mother's favorite Mother's Day is incredible. Cho's "mom" routines are fully realized portraits - of a relationship, an immigrant experience, and the best stuff of families. This film is worth watching at least a few times.

I saw this about 3 years ago. I really wanted to see it after hearing about it at her website. This was much different from her previous routines as this was a one woman show rather than stand up comedy. This first few minutes are pretty slow where she talks about sexuality.

When she gets into the meat of the show ("The All American Girl" incident), that is where she excels. We hear the story behind the failure of the show, Margaret "selling out" to the show's plot (An episode has her making fun of her parents at a club, something she does often in her routine. In the end, she publicly apologizes for making fun of her parents), losing weight rapidly because the network told her too, and a whole lot more. When she gets serious, we feel her pain. When it was cancelled, she goes into a downward spiral. I loved her retort when she replaced by Drew Carey ("Because he was so thin" lol).

I love the empowerment Margaret gives herself when she realizes that losing a show was not the living end. She knows better now because of those unattainable goals that Hollywood sets up for women and ethnic comedians. She shows her strength and defiance against the system. In the end, she comes out a winner.

I gave this film a 10 rating. I struggled with that, because although I feel that this comedy film is truly outstanding, the pace through me off for a moment or two. She comes on stage in a flash of energy and dives right in with the one liners. I had tears in my eyes. But then around the middle, the stories became more involved, not so funny. But then she gets the motor going again at the end.

The fact is Margaret Cho is the funniest woman alive. I identify with her life so much it scares me. The mother-answering-machine jokes are pee-in-your-pants funny, although a little too long in the tooth. The main reason I gave this film a 10 out of 10 is mainly for the brutal honesty Margaret gives the audience. She can't be making this stuff up!

Some of the highlights of the show are: "Lesbians love whale watching!", " Am I Gay? Am I Straight? No, I'm just easy. Where's my parade?" and the always laughable, "A**Masters" skit. Always a crowd favorite.

After I rented this movie, I went right to the web and bought this disc. I highly recommend this flick to any fan of stand up comedy. The special features are worth the purchase price.

It's a torrent of self-hate that pours through this scabrously funny ninety-minute concert by the Korean-American comedian Margaret Cho, whose work here is a peak that bears comparison to Chris Rock and Richard Pryor--the tallest praise I can muster. Cho's unclassifiable id--Asian-American omnisexual is a poor sticker for the self she unloads here--can find no name, no resting place, and no club that will have it as a member. Never has alienation been so explosively hilarious. And beyond the content of her work, Cho is a master of her craft, a genius manipulator of silence, long-held muggy faces, microphone-stand grasps, lunges for the water bottle, and sheer stillness. Her precision can be scary. There is a little too much face-pulling and playing to the balcony of Boys' Town (Cho's "I am a faghag!" shtik seems designed to churn up microwaved warmth from her fan base). But there are many moments--especially Cho's rendering of her inexplicably insane-seeming mom--that could stand toe to toe with Lenny Bruce and Pryor at their tops.

As a fan of her for several years now, I feel that her performance in "I'm the One That I Want" isn't as well-paced and sharply, unrelentingly funny as her previous stand-up performances. She seems to "ham-it-up" a lot more in this performance. Also, whereas in past stand-up performances, the laughs would come rapid-fire, one after another (I guess because of time-restraints), Margaret seems to be stretching out her jokes a little too long, either through repeating the same thing over and over (e.g.the "vagina-washer" bit, "fag-hag") or by making silly faces and ogling at the camera.

This is not to say that this movie isn't funny, there are some bits that are absolutely hilarious. Her best material is the stuff regarding Asians, such as the prejudice and stereotyping (e.g. The Margaret Cho Rice Diet, the "Asian Thing") and her impressions of her decidedly ethnic Korean mother. While I used to like her material about gays, it seems like she hams it up a little too much here, and is specifically playing it up for her large gay audience. It feels more forced in this performance. That being said, "Ass master" still made me laugh till I cried.

All in all, a good performance with some rather sad and touching(but not necessarily funny) material about her ordeal with her failed sitcom. She is becoming little too much "drama-queen" or "diva" though and it takes a toll on her humor. I liked her "raunchy, rebellious, F the system, Asian-chick" persona much better.