Mr. Saturday Night - A Arte de Fazer Rir

Took a chance and bought the DVD for an extravagant amount of money(well £2.99 to be exact) and it turned out to be an unexpected delight. Billy Crystal is brilliant as an acerbic comic ably supported by David Paymer as his long suffering brother. If your expecting an out and out comedy you might be disappointed, but as a moving story of someone's life who happens to be a comedian, it's touching, poignant and sometimes very funny. Although Paymer got an Academy Award nomination, Crystal who let's face it is the only reason to watch the awards got nothing,zero,zilch, not a dickey bird... but as someone once said "don't get me started..." (8/10)

I had waited a long time to see this movie, and it did not disappoint. Billy Crystal gives a marvelous turn as both director and star in this biopic of a stand-up comic. It is told in retrospective, as he is now in old age and reduced to performing in nursing homes. He tells his fascinating life story. I found a little bit of Laurel and Hardy in the movie as Buddy (Crystal) continuously frustrates his brother/manager Stan. Crystal was good as his character is portrayed as a comic who is brilliant at what he does but at the same time is difficult to work with. I liked it. I really recommend this one.

*** out of ****

"DON'T GET ME STARTED!" I saw this film in the theater and I had to buy the DVD because I missed a lot of lines 'cause I was laughing so hard!! I admit that I've been a Billy Crystal fan since "Soap". But, as the movie follows the career of his Saturday Night Live character, Buddy Young, Jr., the dialog between him and Oscar-nominated David Paymer is priceless, whether they're being serious siblings past their prime or as agent and client during the Golden Age Of Television. With an excellent supporting cast which includes Helen Hunt, Julie Warner and Ron Silver (with cameos by Jerry Lewis and Jerry Orbach), I found this movie funny, heart-warming and poignant, too! It's been 25 years and I still quote lines from it during random conversations unbeknownst to those who haven't seen it! I hope you're not one of them.

As previously noted in other comments, this is the story of the rise and fall of a very Jewish stand-up comic named Buddy Young Jr. (Crystal). More importantly, its the story of Young's relationship with his brother/agent.

The movie was billed as a comedy, but it's actually a heavy drama with nuggets of comedy thrown in - mainly during the flashbacks to the early days of Young's career. I agree with the other negative reviewers that the drama side of the movie is pretty lousy - almost painfully over-the-top. But the fact is that the little nuggets of comedy scattered throughout the film really are funny. Laugh out loud funny. But is it worth watching two hours of really bad drama to catch about 20 mins of good comedy? I'd have to say no.

By the end of the flick, the funniest thing about this movie is the farce of watching Crystal trying to be all serious and dramatic while wearing horribly bad make-up which makes him look more like a Star Trek alien than a senior citizen.

Billy Crystal co-wrote, produced, directed and stars in this sentiment-laden Neil Simon knock-off about a Jewish comedian in the late 1950s who becomes a television staple in the '60s, and an aged grouch in the present day. David Paymer tries hard in the doormat role of Crystal's put-upon older brother, but he and Crystal spend too much time in hokey old age make-up, bickering back and forth like in a road company version of "The Sunshine Boys". The movie looks good, with fine Don Peterman cinematography, but it attempts to combine nostalgia with stereotypical Jewish humor and half-hearted pathos--never cutting back on the insults and quips--for a static, unremarkable result. *1/2 from ****