Review of Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011) by Manny C — 22 Aug 2011

After Conan O'Brien's bitter parting from NBC and his gig hosting the Tonight Show, the tv host was legally barred from appearing on television for six months. In that time, O'Brien conceived the Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour, a roadshow dedicated to all things Conan, showcasing his palpable bitterness at how he was treated.

During that time, filmmaker Rodman Flender was accompanying O'Brien and his crew, and what he shot became Conan O'Brien Can't Stop, an eye-opening, revealing, often discomforting documentary that approaches everything with a you-are-there home movie feel, a technique that manages to capture really intimate and on-the-fly moments of Conan being Conan, but also being extraordinarily human. It shows O'Brien as a real, very vulnerable human being, one who just happens to a huge tv star. It's a fascinating look at a superstar in the act of reacting and mourning a lost opportunity.