Remembering Gene Wilder

REMEMBERING GENE WILDER (2024) **** Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner, Mel Brooks, Richard Pryor, Alan Alda, Harry Connick, Jr., Carol Kane, Eric McCormack, Alan Zweibel, Burton Gilliam, Ben Mankiewicz, Peter Ostrum, Rain Pryor. Ron Frank's valentine of a documentary on the beloved comedic actor focuses on Wilder's theatrical and cinematic career with fond recollections by friends, family and collaborators with voice over narration provided by the late icon's audiobook biography audio mixed with clips and vintage photos of the past. The film's success is in capturing Wilder's Mona Lisa smile, mischievous glint in his eyes and utter charm and warmth by being both meek and, well, wild.

Ludicrous MA rating on Netflix. Really? This was a kind and wholesome look at Gene Wilder as a person and his unique career.

The last section of his life with dementia is especially moving. Though this documentary doesn't include all his work, all the obvious high points are explored .

What's remarkable as a side note is the longevity of the now 98 year old Mel Brooks, who crucially helped create Wilder's career. His sense of loss is palpable.

Overall this is as good a documentary as could done.

MA must be a lazy marketing gimmick, since it suggests raw material. This is as sweet a production befitting Wilder's gentle persona.

Before I get into my review, I want to address a complaint that I've seen here from people about this documentary. No, the narration was not AI generated! It comes from his own audiobook that he did before he died. Too bad that the people criticizing this movie couldn't have taken the time to find this out instead of jumping to such incorrect conclusions. But I digress..

Remembering a life of fate and destiny!

For somebody who was an atheist Buddhist, he certainly talked a lot about God. I don't believe he was actually an atheist, maybe more like an agnostic. Agnostic is just don't know for sure about anything, but you can have a belief, you just don't know if it's true. I think that was Gene. I believe he did believe in God. He was just open to being wrong about it.

His life was filled with evidence of God's existence as well, including so many brushes with fate. Too many to be mere coincidence. His life was filled with what I like to call Godwinks. And the beautiful thing is, he was open to the signs. He followed, where God led him. And his life was all the richer for it, full of meaning and higher purpose. He had faith.

He was a good man, and that was made clear throughout this documentary. So many documentaries show that the people we like had demons. But if Gene had any demons, they were channeled through his work only. In life, this documentary shows that he was a kind, gentle, caring, and compassionate soul - who also happened to be very, very funny. In addition to comedy, he was also a great writer, and a great artist - as well as student of life. One word that kept popping up over and over to describe him was "innocent" and it was very innocent that made him such a good student of life. He never thought he knew more than life could teach him. He was always willing to learn, and this made him forever young at heart. It was this quest learning that introduced him to his last wife, that he was married to until death did part. But because I know that somewhere inside him, he knew God, he must be in heaven now, watching over his beloved.

God bless you, Gene Wilder! You made the world a better place just by being the beautiful man that you were.

I loved this film. The writer and director matched Gene Wilder's wit, heart, and humanity with their own. They brought Gene Wilder to life. It's a wonderful celebration of Wilder's life and art. I laughed throughout and it inspired me to see some of the films I've missed. Reminded me of the one I loved the most: The Fresco Kid. The interviews with people he worked with, including some child actors, were a wonderful added dimension. And the film brings some important lessons about life's difficulties. Not writing more. No spoilers. But watch this. You will be so glad you did. This film left its mark on me.

If you're looking for a celebration of Gene Wilder's life and career, as well as confirmation of his legacy as a beloved performer, this quickly paced 2023 documentary from director Ron Frank and writer Glenn Kirschbaum will probably suit your needs just fine. All his most famous work and personal details are covered - the fabled collaborations with Mel Brooks, his later commercial successes with Richard Pryor, his brief and tragic marriage to Gilda Radner - as well as none-too-revealing snippets of interviews with colleagues and friends like Brooks. There's even voiceover narration from Wilder himself from his audiobook of his 2005 memoirs. Still, the film felt lacking in providing what particularly drove his creativity and ambition and how he handled professional failures after he peaked with "Young Frankenstein". Other than "The Producers", little was shared of his more obscure films, his first two marriages, and his estranged daughter. His final years, however, were covered respectfully with his happy fourth marriage to hearing specialist Karen Boyer and his 2016 death from Alzheimer's. This film felt more like a conventional tribute than a revealing life journey.