Belushi

Director R.J. Cutler delves into the life and persona of legendary SNL and comedy extraordinaire John Belushi with a biographical treatment combining traditional documentary techniques, animation, and a series of taped conversations from those who worked closest with John. Cutler's work reveals Belushi's motivations and his need for approval. Highly recommended!

Patched together from archival tapes, pictures, letters and infused with remarkably sharp animated sequences - Belushi is a meticulously researched and intensely personal portrait of a man. As a legacy - it's likely his films will define him better than this necessarily will - but this does a rather comprehensive job of contextualizing him, humanizing him. To realise he died at my exact age now gave the endeavor a rather existential sheen which I wasn't necessarily expecting although the relentless focus accidentally allows his many allies to fall into his wake a little. Poor Ackroyd, poor Judy, poor Carrie. Either way though, a remarkable achievement - and a really beautifully crafted piece of work.

Since my college years, I've studied various comedians on either side of the pond and one in particular has polarised me. That would be the enigmatic John Belushi. But after seeing this documentary, it opens up a whole different angle of the work both on and off celluloid, whilst at the same time, filling in the blanks on the much glossed-over beginnings of John Belushi.

He passed before my time and I grew up mostly on American VHS'... so whilst Belushi had a lot of the limelight on US TV, and moderate, but untapped success in the box office, the likes of Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Robin Williams (my favourite), Steve Martin and that other fella (whose name ex-scapes me here) were prominent exports on the VHS market here in the UK.

But I always knew of Belushi via Blues Brothers and the Steven Spielberg film 1941 and having researched the US comedic circuit in my own failed attempt, I'd always read of Belushi being a massive influence on the styles of many of the comedians mentioned above. I was never really sold though and assumed that this was all afterthought, and I had always thought Jim Belushi was the more 'successful' of the Belushi brothers, but after seeing this, I now realise that I was sooooo wrong.

But this documentary fuses various storytelling devices and presentation styles to tell John's story with overdubs of colleagues, friends and family who knew him best. You see, I've always had this thing in my mind about the journey of a performer from comedian to actor and the troubles such a move would bring. It's happened to nearly every comedian-turned-actor and whilst this is ever-so-slightly touched upon in this film, the two praxis' are distinctly different in many aspects and the very pressure this shift brings (with fan backlash and critics'... criticism) must play havoc in the mind of the performer.

To my mind, this fulcrum is where the meat meets the bone and you can point to and isolate this crossover in many of a performers career. Nowadays, it's more or less expected that if you can perform as a comedian, you can perform as an actor. And this is kind of true as the industry as a whole is riddled with cosmic famous stars and celebrities who think they can try their hand at all disciplines. And this is true for most, as the industry has changed so much since the days of the original SNL crew.

But this documentary epitomises the 'American Dream' and what it actually takes to climb the greasy pole from ground to up. John Belushi didn't have rich parents or famous fathers, uncles or friends to give a heave-ho and 'bend the pole' for him. He worked his socks off at a time when theatre what theatre, music was music, TV was TV and film was film - nowadays there's a fusion and the landing pad is so much more wider thanks to fandom, super-agents and over-inflated egos thanks to social media.

These guys were and always be the trailblazers and this documentary is the real rags-to-riches (and everything in between) of the American entertainment industry. It exemplifies the toll and turmoil of the industry and through fine craft and excellent presentation, WILL make you appreciate the artistic craft of one John Belushi.

One thing I always think of when watching a documentary of this ilk is how much it would offer a blueprint for prospective actors, writers and producers, and one of the ;newfangled sounding boards' of documentaries which precedes a feature film of such a subject. Much like a primer or pilot for TV.

SO... with that... I predict one Tom Hardy (of Inception, Capone etc...) to star in 'American Guest - The Story of John Belushi' in 2023/4, streamed live in your living room from Netflix, HBO or Amazon Prime. I would write it myself, buuut NOOOOooooo, having dipped my toe in the murky world myself, I know such doors are guarded by more established and well-connected moguls who have the umpfh, financial clout and connections to get their script through the door. Besides, I'm 1/3rd Albanian, British and Scouse and I'm busy with my hair.

But then, there's possibly only one guy who could ever write a biopic on the man himself and that would be the great Dan Aykroyd. By jove... what the world could do with now is a little bit of Aykroyd (and Ramis RIP)... But saying all that... go and watch this documentary and see the raw force Belushi was and still is within the industry in all it's glory and I guarantee you that this overly-long and wafflish commentary will make a little more sense (just a little).

Rest in anarchy Mr. Belushi, you'd hate the what the whole industry has become since your days but would have a HEAP of artistic inspiration to lampoon sir!

This documentary is an original way of interviewing colleagues, friends and family about James Belushi, an uncontrollable force in acting, who exploded onto the American tv screens in the seventies and exploded he did.

The good: the way this documentary is told is insightful and illustrative, mixing lots of phone conversations with friends of Belushi with lots of rare footage.

More good: Belushi deserves to have such a documentary dedicated to him, because he was (however short lived) an unique actor.

Any bad? Not any documentary beats watching James Belushi acting in movies and in old tv shows. Simply search Imdb for the few, but great, contributions Belushi made to the American cinema. Yes, it was pulp, but it was the best pulp one could dream of...

Pretty darn good. Recommend you see it, even if you never cared about John Belushi before today. Its mostly audio clips with still photos, and these neat little cartoons drawn to match the audio clips. They never do the standard "guy in chair talking to invisible interviewer" and thats a nice change of pace. Loads of never before seen photos and videos, and never heard audio. Brutal honest look at his whole life, not just good or bad. The documentary shares as much of his insights as it possibly can, and also the opinions and stories of friends & coworkers. It never glorifies or vilifies him which is what a good documentary is all about. Highly recommended.