Review of Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011) by Dalton G — 27 Sep 2011

"Conan O'Brien Can't Stop." Indeed he cannot. He is on a constant mission to entertain the public, even if it means working himself to his very limits. This documentary directed by Rodman Flender begins by quickly addressing the big elephant in the room: the infamous "Late Night Wars" that were going on between Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien a few years ago. After a scheduling conflict that pushed Conan's show into an undesirable time slot in favor of Leno's show (whose ratings were dropping fast), the legendary late night host chose to depart from his gig while NBC granted him a $40 million settlement for him not to appear on television for six whole months following his departure.

So what does the former Late Night host decide to do? Why, he puts on his guitar, gathers himself a band of musicians and performers (including sidekick Andy Richter) and launches the Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television comedy tour, spanning 32 different venues and 44 total shows in which he encounters and performs with numerous other celebs (Jim Carrey, Stephen Colbert and Eddie Vedder just to name a few).

From the first ten minutes of the film, you can already tell that this is going to be one hell of a show to put on. He and his road band jam to a parody of "On The Road Again" in which he dreams of the day he can return to TV ("I can't wait to have my own show again"). He even assembles a couple of female backup singers, affectionately referred to as the 'Cocettes' (originally called 'Tourettes' since it was a tour, but you can probably guess why they changed it).

I have always found Conan O'Brien to be a funny guy, which is saying something considering I hardly so much as crack a smile when watching most popular stand-up comedians today. I firmly believe his years on "The Simpsons" writing staff were some of the best in the show's long-running history (once again, saying A LOT), and I have certainly found him to be the most enjoyable entertainer of the late night circuit. Judging by the enormous crowd lining up outside of the NBC offices jeering the Jay Leno show, I am not the only one who thinks this way.

I noticed one scene where the crew is getting ready to present the first show on tour (I think it was in Oregon) in front of an audience and even Conan himself is getting antsy. I can understand his anxiety of doing his shtick for the first time in a while, though I am sure his fans would love him all the same if he spontaneously forgot every part of his act and ran offstage, Napoleon Dynamite style. The man merely has to trot to the center of the stage and suddenly he's an all-out rock star with red hair and a beard.

Even under the stressful planning and execution of this production, he has his moments of charming hilarity, such as when he gets of a private plane and starts swiping away at air asking an imaginary crowd to give him some breathing room. With him, even applying powder on his face is turned into a colorful display of goofing around. However, that is not to say he doesn't have at least a couple of unflattering moments on camera as well, mostly caused by pressure he imposes on himself. He'll do the occasional jab of superiority directed at Richter, his personal assistant, his writers, and pretty much anybody else in the general vicinity, but I think they can tell its just the strain of touring kicking in.

Fortunately, Conan wins you right back within the next couple minutes as he kindly and patiently conducts meet-and-greets after his shows (even if he doesn't want to) and dances vigorously to his song onstage with the strobe lights cranked at full blinking speed. What can you really say about a guy who uses his day off not just to attend his 25-year college reunion, but also voluntarily plays a ten-minute set for the reunion's talent show?

"Conan O'Brien Can't Stop" is now available for streaming on Netflix. The documentary is not quite as silly or uproariously funny as the material on his show, but it is certainly an entertaining look at how his Legally Prohibited tour came together. Kind of like his version of "Michael Jackson's This Is It," which he actually alludes to as he and the Cocettes rehearse their choreography in the dance room. You have to give the guy credit in the end for delivering exactly what his fans want, and more impressively, persevering through it all.

3/4.