Steve! (martin): un documentario in 2 parti

2 part documentary looking at the life and career of Steve Martin. The first part, made up of classic footage narrated by Martin and friends, looks at his youth and aspirations and how, despite many challenges, he eventually became the biggest comedian on the planet showcasing his unique brand of comedy. The second half is up to date and spent mostly in the company of the man himself going about his work and life business looking back and analysing his successes and failures.

Clearly a man who now more or less seems at ease with himself, he had clearly been through a great deal of introspection over the years and had suffered from panic attacks, a huge talent's typically bumpy ride with his father and bouts of loneliness and self doubt. His stand up routines and many films were not always well received and he frequently acknowledges this, chuckling it away - you sense though that this does nevertheless niggle him. He has many friends it would seem who all like him a lot, but frequently don't really get him and his private, hidden and possibly fragile persona, with the possible exception of Martin Short who Martin clearly adores and vice versa. A fascinating documentary then, culminating in a man happily married, with a child he had late in life who he loves to bits, stacks of cash and a hit tv show - and yet you feel he still feels there is something amiss. Amusing, in depth and ultimately a bit sad somehow.

Being deliberately unfunny hoping to get laughs seems a doomed strategy for a standup comedian but eventually it worked for Steve Martin. The first comedian to fill arenas he then went on to a very successful movie career endearing audiences with his everyman persona. The second part of this two-episode series takes us inside Martin's private life to some extent, though he is understandably protective of his family. His relationship with his cold and distant father, for whom he never seemed to be good enough, explains much of the sad clown he became. A bachelor for most of his career, Martin became a father only late in life. We are taken inside his writing collaboration with Martin Short for Only Murders in the Building as well as his fascination for art collecting and banjo playing. Steve Martin is a wild and crazy (but also loveable) guy and this documentary is an excellent record of his achievements and a tribute to the perseverance of his artistry.

Other than enjoying Steve Martin's performances in a few iconic film roles, I knew relatively nothing about the man coming into this documentary-especially as it related to his stand-up comedy career. While "Steve!" certainly filled in a lot of those gaps, I found it to be "just okay" as a three-hour viewing experience in large part because I found one episode to be pretty clearly superior to the other.

The first episode focuses almost exclusively on Martin's childhood and then ascent in the magic/comedy realms-to the point of becoming one of the most popular stand-up performers in the history of the medium. I had absolutely no idea that he had hit those heights and was truly a cultural phenomenon. I really enjoyed this installment and its ending understandably teased a transition to examining Martin's film roles and present-day life.

While that second episode does ostensibly do those things, it does so from a very scattered perspective. Instead of the linear path of its predecessor, episode two is scattered. Martin's film career really isn't the focus-rather the result of reflections from his creation of a comic/sketch book of his life with an illustrator and just ramblings around Los Angeles with buddy Martin Short. There are certainly some stand-out nuggets in this installment (like Martin's newfound family life), but it meanders to the point of potentially being boring to some viewers. Unless you have a vested interest in Martin & Short sitting around swapping cringe-worthy punchlines, this hour-and-a-half might fall a little flat.

Overall, then, I settle on a solid-but-not-spectacular 7/10 star rating for "Steve!" as a whole. Parts of it really struck a chord with me and filled in Martin's "cultural gaps"; other parts were simply too slow and inane for me to identify with.

Beautiful documentary. It is filled with kindness. Very few people I love and respect as Steve Martin, he is in the company of Tom Hanks, Jeff Goldblum, Conan O'Brien...His life story is both a hardship and a triumph of man. There is wisdom in the film, about work, family, friendship, love. I learned about him so much from it for which I am grateful. I read the other comments on it, some find it boring or just simply bad, I should learn from Steve Martin and should not say bad things about others, I just wish they watched a marvel action movie instead if they wanted a lot of action. I cannot understand how could they not find treasure upon treasure in this. I hope Martin Short will live as long as, at least as, Steve Martin will, I wouldn't want a world where he stops creating. This is not a perfect film but it is for me. Thank you for making it.

The early statements in this fawning documentary that he was the only comic in the 70s breaking new ground and the most important comic is pathetic. Richard Pryor and George Carlin were comedic geniuses. For all his faults which came to light later, at that time Bill Cosby was huge and important in the comedy scene. And Gabe Kaplan. This documentary is boring and sadly lacks true context. Steve Martin's clownish act in the 70s and early 80s does not stand the test of time and he comes off as a novelty act in episode 1. They somehow make the very funny movie "The Jerk" into a bland footnote. Very disappointing documentary.