Distributor:
Fox Home Entertainment Certificate: PG | 104
Minutes
Director: Martin Scorcese
Release Date: 16 June 2004 | Rent or Buy Extras: Yes
ANYONE
IN IT WE KNOW?
Robert
De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Sandra Bernhard, Shelley Hack
WHAT’S
IT ABOUT THEN?
More
than slightly psychotic Marty
Pupkin (Robert De Niro) is
desperate to become a stand up
comic like his hero, the
legendary Jerry Langford (Jerry
Lewis), when Jerry refuses to
give him a spot on his late
night talk show, Marty, helped
by Jerry uber fan Sandra
Bernhard, kidnaps Jerry in a bid
for fame.
SO
IS IT ANY GOOD?
Easily the most accessible to a general audience of all the
Scorcese-DeNiro collaborations, The King of Comedy is fantastic, superb
performances across the board, stand out though is the normally well
over the top Jerry Lewis who is here the subdued, tired TV host Jerry
Langford and he really has never been better; even the normally
unlikeable Sandra Bernhard is excellent as Jerry’s biggest fan (her
“dinner date” with the kidnapped Jerry is hilarious but also very
sad) and DeNiro of course totally inhabits the role of Pupkin.
Probably more relevant today than ever before, we live in a
world where murderers become celebrities and reality TV shows allow
everyone their fifteen minutes of fame, The King of Comedy offers so
many great scenes, Pupkin interviewing life size carboard cut outs of
Jerry Langford and Liza Minelli; Scorsese’s pullback to reveal
Pupkin’s monologue is to a giant blow up photograph of an appreciative
audience;
Pupkin waiting for a phone call at a public booth whilst an
impatient crowd gathers behind him, you really have to do yourself a
favour and check it out.
ANY
SPECIAL FEATURES?
A 20 minute documentary looking back at the making of the
movie with contributions from Scorcese and Bernhard and some deleted
scenes.
