Review of The King of Comedy (1982) by Nathan H — 23 Aug 2009

If you liked Taxi Driver, you must watch this. Often considered one of the most underrated films ever, "The King Of Comedy" was misunderstood when first released, but it was ahead of its time and remains a frighteningly disturbing film.

It's not violent at all, and there is practically no blood whatsoever, the creepiness is eked out of Robert De Niro in arguably his greatest performance (Scorsese reckons its his best performance in one of his films).

De Niro is Rupert Pupkin, a struggling comedian who idolises popular comedian Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis in another good performance). De Niro's friend Marsha (Sandra Bernhard, also excellent) is also obssessed with Langford, seeing him as a father figure of sorts (she has a big expensive house but her parents didn't pay attention to her).

One day, Pupkin manages to sneak a conversation with Langford, and from then on, we become embroiled into Pupkin's delusional universe as he begins to stalk Langford (although in his own little world he thinks they're best friends).

The key to the brilliance of this film is the camerawork and editing: They seem so unspectacular and ordinary, making the film seem even more real, which brings a frightening concept that is unfortunately brought to life constantly in recent times: Untalented, delusional people can and will do anything to become famous, and sometimes they can achieve it.

Pupkin isn't the scariest part of the film, the fact that people like him are a dime a dozen in this world is the scariest part. A companion piece to Taxi Driver, a brilliant little film in its own right.

Despite its title, it is not a laugh-a-second rollercoaster ride, because life isn't like that. Hats off to Scorsese for making a thrillingly disturbing film that gets better with each viewing. If this was too awkward for you to watch, I recommend "After Hours".