American: The Bill Hicks Story

This documentary is very in depth but it's focus on still photography/animation left me wanting more. The story of Bill's life is definitely covered very thoroughly but I almost felt like this could have been an audio book. I enjoyed it but would have liked to (visually) see more interviews, Bill's comic sets and video of real life people that would get you to know Bill.

I just felt it could have been done better but you do get to know "the guy". IMDb requires ten lines of text for a review so I will have to fluff this review with garbage in order to have this review be approved. Are we there yet?

More than leading an interesting life, Bill Hicks - one of the most significant American comedians in recent times - was an interesting soul with an important voice. This is what, after a somewhat slow start, Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas' biomentary American: The Bill Hicks Story is able to convey. The filmmakers use a combination of creative and agreeable photo-animations and traditionally voiced interviews with Hicks' friends and family to tell his story, and the film captures some of the comedian's struggles, a little bit of his agenda, and a fair amount of his sense of humour. Hicks is portrayed, as dead artists often are, as something of a martyr, which is fitting enough, but the filmmakers make the deadly sin for documentarians of not treating their subject material with any form of criticism. This is a fan piece, and will work just as that.

If the film inspired you to check out more of Hicks' material, I think the filmmakers will feel that they've done their jobs. In that case, I suggest Totally Bill Hicks, which includes his last performance in England.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Coming from a country famous for making an institution out of stand up comedy, for many an insincere route to bigger things, Bill Hicks is certainly a name that stands out in many 'best jokes ever' polls over here, despite being, interestingly, American, where people are known to be a little more sensitive. And, it would seem he got his big break over here, his true talent and potential not being explored in his native country enough, where he either caused too much offence or was simply a misunderstood genius. Basically, the guy has a massive cult following that has continued many years after his death and this documentary attempts to cast light on his life and times, without reflecting too much on the influence he still has today.

Hicks didn't seem to let how much he was far away from where he went to become famous stand in his way at all, chasing his small town boy dream with all the confidence and gusto of a tornado, a character possessed by a dynamic mind that refused to be restrained who, like the best of anyone, ended up living fast and dying young. People are appreciated more in death, for sure, but it's undeniably often the case that people with an unquestionable talent in whatever medium they are in can be taken away in their prime, and it's definitely sad to see all that potential and talent taken away.

This is a sincere, honest, insightful, revealing and well made enough expose of Hicks, opening up his unique observations and comedy stylings to a new generation of viewers. ***

Watching recordings of Hicks, I am impressed at how his stand up shifts from vulgar bathroom humor to such profound social commentary. He truly was unique and ahead of his time. I guess it figures then his life was taken at such an early age. That seems to be the pattern we see in history with great thinkers (Ghandi, Jesus, etc). When I hear him speak, I caught myself saying, "He should've been president!" Instead he was regulated to doing comedy in two-bit clubs in the redneck south. Also of not is the wonderful picture-animation technique, which I have not personally seen before. It helped to fill in the gaps left by not having the titular character being present for an interview.

See it and learn something.

Your father didn't die for a flag. He died for the symbol that the flag represented, which is the freedom to burn the flag. -Hicks

To the people in the know, Bill Hicks is revered as one of the greats. I must admit I wasn't all that familiar with his work before seeing this documentary. I may have seen the odd snippet here and there, maybe even caught part of the odd TV appearance when getting back late from the pub, but this is the first time I've actually sat down and watched any his work properly. You'll be pleased to know you've got a convert right here! I can see why he was so successful over here in the UK; his style of humour is just the kind of thing we love. But I digress, here's a bit about the film.

We are told the story of Bill Hicks right from birth until his death, tragically young, only 32 years later. It's quite fascinating how he started out as a teenager with his friend Dwight Slade, and how they'd sneak out of the house to go and play gigs at a local comedy club. He gains some success and ends up solo when Dwight has to move away and we follow his career through alcoholism, drug abuse and back again. It's only when he cleaned up that he had his greatest successes though. Sadly he never really made it really big in his home country during his lifetime, but he left us with some truly memorable and thought-provoking comedy… In my book, a genius.

Rather than just having lots of talking heads in between scenes of Bill on stage, the filmmakers used some photo-animation to illustrate certain parts of the story. This worked very well and served to keep the audience interested in the narrative. Many of his friends and family contribute to the story, which gives this version of events a lot of credence. I found I was not only intrigued by his life story, but also by his comedy. I will certainly be looking at more of the work of Bill Hicks… Recommended.

My Score: 8.2/10.

IMDb Score: 7.9/10 (based on 1,716 votes at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82/100 (based on 55 reviews counted at the time of going to press).