Review of Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011) by Tommy B — 11 Oct 2011

For someone like me it's easy to mourn bygone talents like John Belushi and Johnny Carson while taking for granted living comic legends like Conan O'Brien. After watching this documentary, I have never felt so lucky that my generation has someone like him. And it's good to see so many people half his age embracing and supporting him.

I was always a night-owl, even as a young child. And once I got my own television in my room, I stayed up even later. I grew up on the antics of Conan, Andy, Max, and La Bamba. I still fondly remember the staring contests and the Pimp-Bot 3000, and how Conan would often lampoon his own show for being so low-budget and unknown. I credit Conan with some of my earliest comedy education.

My loyalty never faltered. The Walker Texas Ranger lever had me rolling in college. When I couldn't fit the show into my schedule, I followed him to Hulu and would catch up on full episodes there. I was overjoyed when NBC announced he'd follow in Johnny Carson's footsteps. And I was part of Team Coco in the debacle that followed.

(A small aside: I don't really blame Leno for what happened. I also understand it was a business decision and simply a matter of ratings. I do think, however, the executives made poor decisions throughout the entire affair and treated Conan very badly.).

When I saw "Conan O'Brien Can't Stop" was streaming on Netflix, I clicked without hesitation. It's a candid look into his life as he made his fateful transition, and partly a music documentary about his tour. Rodman Flender, director of such Oscar-worthy films like "Beethoven's Fifth" and "Leprechaun 2", does a surprisingly good job considering his prior work. The editing sometimes feels sloppy and some intimate scenes are almost derailed by shoddy camera work, but the production value of the concert scenes is significantly higher.

Conan remains true to the title of the film; he really doesn't seem to have the ability to stop. We see him get jovially impatient during his down time, whether he's beating the floor with drum sticks or taking jabs (often literally) at his crew. He's either "on" or "off" and rarely do we see the latter. But the frenetic pace of the tour even has Conan close to a burnout towards the end. You really feel his exhaustion, even to the point that at times the film becomes uncomfortable to watch. 44 shows in one summer with numerous, often impromptu, meet-and-greets seems inhuman. The air conditioning breaks at his show at Bonnaroo and his shirt his soaked by the end of it. There is the constant concern about losing his voice, to which he once replies, "You could shoot me in the left lung and I'll do this show, but without the use of my voice we're done." Everyone is depending on him, taking his hard work for granted at times. He calls them out on it eventually, telling them how no one is considering the consequences of a burn-out.

When he can be pinned down for short interviews, Conan talks about how he's dealt with his feelings of anger and resentment, how he's trying to turn all of that negative energy into something creative and positive. Something he said about NBC really rang true for me: why are executives, who are completely aloof of the creative process, making sweeping creative decisions? But Conan isn't sulking. He's energized and ready to move on to his next chapter.

Above all, he loves his fans. He rarely denies them anything, even at the cost of his rest (and his voice). When he's recuperating after a show and a crowd forms outside of his trailer, there isn't even a question of whether or not he'll go out and sign autographs. He hugs them, he poses with them for pictures, he really adores them all. And the feeling certainly seems mutual as he receives all sorts of bizarre gifts from his comic cult.

The movie is really a ton of fun and I found myself laughing out loud through most of it. There's a great back-and-forth with "Late Night" veteran Jack McBrayer, Jim Carrey visits after a performance, Conan does a bit with Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, they jam with Jack White at a secret show... it's really just a blast. I imagine this movie is almost like being there. So if you're a fan of Conan then you really owe it to yourself to watch.