Without You I'm Nothing

Sandra's kick*** one-woman, off-Broadway show is made into a poor man's art house film: the result is a wildly uneven ride that contains some hilarious bits and is still more than worth a look.

Her performance in Scorsese's The King of Comedy will always be her best and she's without peer when appearing in front of a live audience; yet the depressed blues singer who unleashes her anger about her narcissistic hairdresser boyfriend, the growing-up-with-my-parents and the 'I'm straight, man!' monologues, and the sexy, in-your-face ending are wonderful bits that equal those aforementioned examples of her talent and wit.

She's not everybody's cup of tea to be sure but those who appreciate her sharp edge and straightforward style will be grateful this film exists. Now if we can get it out on DVD!

At the time I recall being quite startled and amused by this movie. I referred to it as the most important movie I'd seen in ten years, and found myself bumping into people who said similar things.

Bernhard has an unusually perceptive behavioral notebook. And she has shaped the bitter adolescent personality that we all had, into a corrosive, adult world-view. The two together provide a startling mix which may be too edgy for some viewers. (Hi Skip. I wish you weren't my brother so I could **** you!)

Bernhards search for herself after returning to LA from New York, results in the immersive trying-on of various personas (all of which fit poorly) for our amusement, but enough of them involve acting out to appeal to a "black imperative" values system that the real barometer of her resituation is whether black culture accepts her. (It's been a while. Nina Simone comes to mind. And she has an impressive, solidly-built black lover in the movie) A pretty black girl attends the shows, and seems to be authorizing Sandra's faux-blackness, but ultimately rejects her.

Just as Catholics deem themselves lucky to suffer for Christ, here Sandra depicts herself suffering at the hands of a black culture in which she craves a place; as if she cherishes her worthiness and her rejection. It's the only value system implicated in the films world, outside of Bernhards arty confusion.

For a nation whose chief issues are racism and money, it's refreshing to see one of the 2 topics dealt with in an atypical way.

Here's a movie version of Sandra Berhard's off-Broadway show.

Miss Bernhard is a talented and creative performer who has learned George Burns' advice: "Sincerity: if you can fake that, you've got it made". Miss Bernhard's show is a 90-minute testimony to show-biz insincerity, with its lightning mood changes, its self-absorption, and its striving to remain relevant by constantly associating with better-known individuals. Once you've cracked that particular attitude, this quickly becomes tiresome, despite the variety of songs and costumes,the brilliant studio cinematography by Joseph Yacoe (supervised, I strongly suspect, by executive producer Nicholas Roeg). All this is done in indictment, but even so, I grew weary soon enough. An hour would have been more than enough.

It's the movie debut of Djimon Hounsou.

Film version of Sandra Bernhard's one-woman off-Broadway show is gaspingly pretentious. Sandra spoofs lounge acts and superstars, but her sense of irony is only fitfully interesting, and fitfully funny. Her fans will say she's scathingly honest, and that may be true. But she's also shrill, with an unapologetic, in-your-face bravado that isn't well-suited to a film in this genre. She doesn't want to make nice--and she's certainly not out to make friends--and that's always going to rub a lot of people the wrong way. But even if you meet her halfway, her material here is seriously lacking. Filmmaker Nicolas Roeg served as executive producer and, though not directed by him, the film does have his chilly, detached signature style all over it. Bernhard co-wrote the show with director John Boskovich; their oddest touch was in having all of Sandra's in-house audiences looking completely bored--a feeling many real viewers will most likely share. *1/2 from ****

I cant believe how few people posted comments!? (original post June 2005) Thats just shows that not many people care about this film...and thats sad. I had the privilege to see her perform her 1 woman show LIVE w-a-a-a-y back in1988 (or so? i cant remember) and it was HYSTERICAL!!!! She is a fantastic writer and stand up comic. The live audience laughter was infectious and I remember thinking she was a brilliant performer. But somehow seeing the same monologues performed on film spoken in a smoky Jazz nightclub to a less than enthusiastic crowd of actors (who probably had a very hard time keeping a straight face) was just not as funny. Sandra If you read this PLEASE PERFORM THIS SHOW LIVE AGAIN. IT'S TIME. or maybe you have. I'm going to look out for you more now.

(POST UPDATE: Film is being shown at OUTFEST Los Angles July 2009 YAY!!!).