The Popkorn Junkie

Though I have tried denying it for quite some time, and though it truly pains me to say this almost to the point of tears--Jerry Seinfeld's extended 15 minutes of fame may be completely over. After the horrible last episode of Seinfeld and a pretty lame comedy tour following the demise of the show, I had my reservations about his career. Now, after seeing "Comedian", I am more certain of the validity of my prediction.

This is the most painful documentary I have ever watched, and not because of it's emotional power and harsh realism, but because it is just awful--one of the worst documentaries I have ever had the misfortune to view. There was no point for making the film, and no reason for anyone else to watch it, which is why I will make this review as short as possible.

This is about the tour Seinfeld embarked on after his show left the air. This was shot with some crappy camera and it looks as crappy as it feels. It features cameos from comedians like Garry Shandling, Bill Cosby, and Kevin Nealon, and most of the film is about what goes on backstage. The funny thing is (and the only funny thing in this film)--nothing exciting goes on backstage. If something exciting does happen, it looks staged and completely fake.

Jerry Seinfeld is obviously a funny guy and a very gifted comedian, but something needs to happen quick before he completely falls off radar, and credit card commercials aren't going to cut it. I don't know if he needs to start a movie career, but he needs to do something. If he makes another piece of crap like "Comedian", I might just gouge out my eyes. This film is playing in limited release--thank God--and pray it does not come to a theatre near you. When it hits DVD, go ahead and buy it, because you never know when you'll need a good doorstop. Review over. "Comedian" blows.

-- Billy Ray ( 0 out of 4 pops )

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Other Junkie's opinions.....

Mike ( 2 1/2 out of 4 pops )

"Comedian" is an interesting and entertaining film about the behind the scenes stuff that takes place at comedy clubs as well as at bigger venues like the David Letterman show. While the film is not that compelling or fascinating, it is an original piece of film making giving us good insight on what these stand-up comedians go through trying to make it big. Of course, the central figure in the film is Jerry Seinfeld and I found it interesting watching him trying to make a come-back on the comedy club circuit with all new material. The other person the film follows around is a new up-and-coming comedian who seems to be mostly concerned about making it to the top. But I found him to be somewhat obnoxious and didn't care if he made it or not. People should be warned that this is not a live in-concert film showing Jerry Seinfeld but a look behind the curtains on what goes on.

Pappy ( 2 1/2 out of 4 pops )

This is a fairly revealing and amusing documentary about stand up comedy in general and Jerry Seinfeld in particular. I enjoyed it, but it was disjointed to the point that it seemed like random clips of film tied together without any thought. I also had difficulty watching the film because the quality of the cinematography is pretty bad - I mean it is way above the Blair Witch Project level, but not easy to watch. The sound is terrible, especially in the first ½ hour of the film - there was so much background noise that I had difficulty making out what people were saying. If you want to learn about the behind the scenes world of stand up comedy and don't mind watching a bunch of random clips of home movie quality then go see this documentary. Otherwise stick to Seinfeld reruns.