Review of Lenny (1974) by Christopher M — 13 May 2008

I wish I was more familiar with Lenny Bruce before seeing this. For the completely uninitiated, Lenny Bruce is probably the most famous stand-up comic of all time, because he opened the doors for pretty much every comic to come after him.

He started doing edgy, risk-taking comedy while nobody else was doing anything remotely unconventional. Uncompromising as he was, he was even arrested several times for things said in his act. 1974's Lenny is a really cleverly constructed biopic starring Dustin Hoffman as Bruce.

The film is clever for a number of reasons. For one thing, it's done in black & white and I think that enhances the picture, which uses some really cool lighting tricks and some evocative imagery.

But the most interesting thing about it is that it is structured like a documentary. We have the narrative of Lenny's life as he rises in the comedy world and his trials, romances, etc, then we have his stand-up routine (which seems to be a spot-on job done by Hoffman), and then there are interviews with major characters/people in Lenny's life which run throughout.

All that business has the potential to become a mess, but because the film is structured exactly as if it was a documentary, it's a clever device that works to great effect. Seeing this made me realize how strong Dustin Hoffman started out his career.

Before appearing in Lenny, he had put in brilliant performances in classic films such as The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, and Straw Dogs - and his work in this film only carries on that string of great performances.

As well, Valerine Perrine, playing Lenny's wife Honey, was astoundingly good, and heartbreaking. For any fan of either Hoffman or stand-up comedy in general, this is not a film to miss.