The Comedian

The Comedian (2016)

** (out of 4)

Former TV star Jackie Burke (Robert DeNiro) is now performing in small and useless clubs where his profane and offensive act really isn't going over any more. After an altercation with a heckler, Jackie finds himself doing community service where he meets a young woman (Leslie Mann) and soon them two kick it off as the comedian finds more and more going wrong in his life.

Can someone explain how a movie director by Taylor Hackford with a cast that includes DeNiro, Mann, Harvey Keitel, Danny DeVito, Charles Grodin, Cloris Leachman and Billy Crystal could turn out so lifeless? I mean, how on Earth can you get such talent in one movie and the end result be so bad? I've heard that the film was booed and had several walk-outs during its premiere in Toronto. I'm not sure how try that is but if so that's a bit harsh because the movie isn't that bad but at the same time it is incredibly disappointing and rather pointless.

This was apparently a dream project for DeNiro who spent several years trying to get it off the ground. People have given the actor a lot of crap over the past decade or so for his willingness to do any film for a check. I will never put someone down for wanting to make money and the actor has appeared in some lousy movies and some others that he was just lending his name to for a check but he always delivered a performance and made those films better. For the first time in his career I think he's the reason a movie is bad.

Sadly, DeNiro just isn't very good here and there's no question that he just wasn't right for the role. I'm really not sure what the screenplay was trying to do or say but it just doesn't work and the entire film just seems rather pointless. DeNiro is certainly giving it an A+ effort but there's just no soul or anything to the character. DeNiro is actually pretty boring in the part and he just wasn't believable as this washed up comic. This here shocked me because I think the actor can do comedy and he's played a comedian before in the masterpiece THE KING OF COMEDY. It just doesn't work here and it's really too bad.

The only time his performance really sparks is a sequence where he and Keitel go after one another. If you're a fan of the early films they did together then you'll get a kick out of seeing them battle again. Mann was good in her supporting role as was Grodin, Leachman and Crystal in their bit parts. DeVito gets a couple funny moments as well but there's no question that they can't save the film. Yes, even DeNiro has a couple funny bits but there's just no denying that overall the film is a major misfire.

I'm really not sure what the point of THE COMEDIAN was as the screenplay is all over the place. Is it meant to show us the bottom side of the comedy game? Watch THE WRESTLER, which did a much better job at showing the low points of a profession. Was the romance with Mann supposed to mean something? If so, what when you've got DeNiro and her father (Keitel) fighting like a romantic comedy? There's a dramatic twist in the story at the end. What was the point? What was the point of the DeNiro character being so unlikable? THE COMEDIAN isn't an awful film. It's slightly entertaining and the cast will at least keep you glued to what's going on but there's no doubt that the film is just a major bust.

If you think about it, Robert De Niro is a very funny guy! Starting right before the turn of the century, he started playing off of the perception that he's super intense by doing almost as many comedies as dramas – movies like "Dirty Grandpa", "The Family", "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" and, of course, the "Analyze This" and "Meet the Parents" films. Still, funny isn't the first adjective that comes to mind when most Movie Fans hear the legendary actor's name. And that's understandable. The most lauded period in his career was in the 1970s, when he was filming dramas like "Mean Streets", "The Godfather: Part II", "Taxi Driver", "The Deer Hunter" and "Raging Bull", but De Niro himself feels that he has a sense of humor that has helped him in his work. As he has said, "I've always done comedies. There were comic elements in 'Mean Streets' and even 'Taxi Driver'. And I did 'The King of Comedy'. I've always had what I consider to be a good sense of humor." That last film, which was released in 1982, is partly a dark comedy, but even more of a drama (and presages De Niro's 1990s stalker roles in "Cape Fear" and "The Fan") but he IS a comedian in "The King of Comedy". In 2016's "The Comedian" (R, 1:59), De Niro plays a different kind of comic. The latter film has less emphasis on the dark and more on the comedy. As in "The King of Comedy" De Niro's titular comedian has serious personal issues, but this role is less like that delusional character and more like early 2016's hilariously inappropriate "Dirty Grandpa".

De Niro's 2016 cinematic comedian is a senior citizen with a serious attitude problem – and a seriously funny schtick – both in terms of his jokes and his outrageous antics. De Niro plays Jackie Burke, a sitcom star from the 1980s who is still struggling to break free from "Eddie", his show's police officer family man character – and his popular catchphrase ("Hey, Arleeeeen"). A woman called Miller (Edie Falco), Jackie's long-suffering agent (and daughter of the agent he had early in his career), gets him a stand-up gig as part of a nostalgia show featuring comics who had previously starred in sitcoms (including Jimmie Walker and Brett Butler, as themselves). Jackie's self-loathing boils over when he realizes that an audience member (Happy Anderson) is heckling so it can be taped and posted as a webisode. Jackie comes down into the audience, gets into an altercation with the heckler and punches him with the mic, bloodying the heckler's face. During the resulting court appearance, Jackie refuses to properly apologize for the incident and comically insults the man instead, earning 30 days in jail for contempt of court.

When Jackie is back out on the streets of New York, his life is even more of a mess than before his comedy club incident. Miller has a hard time booking much of anything for her acerbic client and Jackie visits his younger brother, Jimmy (Danny DeVito), and Jimmy's disapproving wife, Florence (Patti LuPone), to give him a loan until he can get something going. Jackie also still has to perform the 100 hours of community service that was part of his original plea deal. He pays this part of his debt to society at a soup kitchen where he serves the homeless and keeps them entertained with an impromptu stream of ribald humor. This is also where he meets Harmony Schiltz (Leslie Mann), who is working off an assault charge of her own, while being harassed by her rich father (Harvey Keitel) who insists that she come back to Florida with him. While Harmony and Jackie strike up an unlikely friendship, he finds himself getting back on track after some videos of various unplanned public antics start to go viral.

"The Comedian" is sometimes funny and often uncomfortable to watch, but it's an interesting character study. Jackie isn't easy to like – for the other characters in his life, for the members of his various audiences or for the real-life Movie Fans watching this film… but his struggles for respect and relevance, for career success on his own terms and for maybe even a little bit of love, are challenges to which we can all relate. The stand-up routines, which alternate between planned and impromptu, are often humorous, sometimes off-putting and always raw and politically incorrect. The real-life comics (including Billy Crystal, Cloris Leachman and Charles Grodin), some playing themselves and some playing colleagues of the title character, add realism and a few laughs to the story, but Taylor Hackford's direction feels uneven. De Niro's performance is typically outstanding and, as he has been so many times before, is pretty funny – even in the midst of his character's personal and professional suffering. Unfortunately, there's a bit of suffering for us Movie Fans too as we struggle do decide how we feel about the main character, endure a few too many awkward moments and find ourselves wondering (much like many of Jackie's audience members in the film) how funny he actually is – and if it's okay to laugh at his boundary-pushing jokes and actions. "The Comedian" makes us laugh and suggests that we think, but requires that we put a little too much effort into deciding how we feel about the darkly comedic script and its often disagreeable characters. "B-"

Yes it is funny. Yes the humor is often crude. That's comedy!! The well rounded cast, great storylines, and true to real life conflicts made it interesting and satisfying to watch.

The Comedian has a damn impressive cast, De Niro, Keitel and Mann. Immediatly I had high hopes, alas they weren't met but the film isn't a complete bust.

It tells the story of an ageing comedian on the road to comeback. His foul mouth and controversial style doesn't appeal to everyone and to make matters worse his considerably younger on/off girlfriend is harbouring a secret that will change everything.

Everyone is on form and there are laughs to be had but much of the film feels like a structureless art piece and simply doesn't flow.

One thing I truly liked was how much I empathised with DeNiro, how much I found myself relating to him and yet hoping that isn't what I have to look forward to in my old age.

The Comedian is more a drama with some comedic moments than a comedy, but considering its subject matter it's still head and shoulders over the likes of Funny People (2009).

The Good:

Cast are great

The more I see Leslie Mann the more I like her

Some funny moments

The Bad:

Weirdly paced

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

DeNiro has reinvented himself like no actor before him

I hope I never hit an time where I need to go for a number 3

What's the matta wit you? I am puzzled by all the negative reviews. Yes, it's not The King of Comedy, or Goodfellas. But this movie was funny. De Niro's character Jackie was a 3-dimensional and human portrayal, and doesn't deserve to be dismissed as "another De Niro phoning it in" performance. The scenes where he performs stand-up comedy were genuinely funny. The relationship he has with his brother (Danny DeVito) were warm and convincing.

It may not be a timeless masterpiece, but if you're at the Red Box or looking for your next movie night rental from the couch it is worth seeing.

For what it's worth, I think Dirty Grandpa was raunchy and hilarious, and Grudge Match was also funny and had heart - with touching performances by both De Niro and Stallone.