The King of Comedy

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Year:	1982
Country of origin:	USA
Director:	Martin Scorsese
Genre:	Blackly comic drama
Starring:	Robert De Niro, Diahnne Abbott, Jerry Lewis, Sandra Bernhard
Rating:	5/5
IMDB link:	http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085794/
Tagline:	....and when it's all over one of them won't be laughing
Favourite line:	"Better to be king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime."

A blackly comic tale of an aspiring comedian, and a savage swipe at the entertainment industry in general.

DeNiro plays Rupert Pupkin, an awkward, vaguely OCD individual who is as persistent and nagging as he is strange. He lives at home with his mother who seems to offer him little support, constantly bending his ear when he tries to work on new material or prepare audition tapes in his room, the room itself containing two black and white, life size cut-outs of Liza Minelli and Jerry Langford, a chat show host superstar who Pupkin is modelling himself on.
Pupkin's world is a strange one, full of delusion and misdirection, his mind apparently capable of bending events around him to fit into his own scheme of things, though incapable of accepting negativity.
Pupkin meets Langford as he emerges from his studio, fending off a manic female fan before jumping into the back of a car with him. Taken aback, Langford agrees to talk with Pupkin, who just wants him to listen to his routine, to critique and advise and, perhaps, have him in the chat show as a guest. Clearly eager to be rid of the maniac, Langford advises him to drop into his office so that he can hear the material, which Pupkin duly does, though Langford refuses to see him. Undeterred, Pupkin produces a tape, sends that in, though still no joy until eventually, with encouragement from fellow struggling comic Masha (the wonderfully odd Sandra Bernhard) he kidnaps Langford, taking him hostage. His demand: to be a guest on The Jerry Langford Show so that he can perform his stand-up routine.

DeNiro's performance as the wired, mentally unstable Pupkin is astonishing. To begin with, it seems a little peculiar, the mannerisms so exaggerated, the timbre of the voice so un-DeNiro that it takes a little getting used to but, once established, you can but marvel at the skill on show.
The tone of the movie is perfect, a melancholic mania infusing the piece as we see the world mainly through Pupkin's eyes, feeling every setback and defeat, all the time worrying for his mental health.
Scorcese and DeNiro have worked together on some marvellous movies and, perhaps, this is one that is oft overlooked in favour of the more notorious Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas et al, which is a shame as, even though there is next to no violence here, still there is tension aplenty.
An underrated gem.