More than ever, the modern media, along with human nature, turns celebrities into clichés. Elizabeth Taylor and Larry King may now be best known for being oft-married, Lindsay Lohan for being a drunk. Millions know their names without ever having seen their work. Documentaries like this, or Tyson, remind us that in real life, no one is simply a cliché. Joan Rivers, who would prefer to be thought of as an actress, not a comedian, doesn’t regret her well-publicized plastic surgeries, only that, for many people, they overshadow whatever else she may accomplish. And, aged 75 in the year this was filmed, there is more she intends to accomplish.
The approach of filmmakers Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg was simply to follow Rivers around with a camera so for a “year in the life of a semi-legend.” This was a year that included a new book, an autobiographical play, a successful stint (along with her daughter Melissa) on Celebrity Apprentice, a celebrity roast aired on Comedy Central, and the usual television commercials, hawking of her jewelry line, and numerous shows in small clubs and large auditoriums. For reasons both temperamental and financial, this a woman who’s rarely idle. Although Stern and Sunderg include enough old clips, from Johnny Carson’s tonight show in particular, to give a capsule version of Rivers’s history, but their approach is more of a profile than biography. A few other celebrities appear, but only to the extent that their paths cross hers, as does Don Rickles when they co-headline, or similarly caustic Kathy Griffin when she does the roast.
Unlike Mike Tyson, Rivers’s life doesn’t play out as tragedy, although she has suffered, as after the suicide of her husband of over 20 years in 1987, or during a bout with bulimia detailed in one of her books, but not here. The documentary doesn’t have much of a story arc, as movie folks say. Her story remains the persistence that allows her a place in a youth-obsessed culture, even if it doesn’t come with all of the respect she believes she deserves. She is the conflation of insecurity (about how others view her) and confidence (in her own skills) that is the hallmark of so many successful entertainers. And, as the clips of her act show, she’s still funny. In a bit shown during the credits, she notes that her dying before the movie’s release would a marketing coup. If that had happened, her biggest regret would have been not to be around for the career boost.
IMDB link
viewed at Ritz 5 6/23/10 and reviewed 6/23–24/10
No comments:
Post a Comment