Review of The King of Comedy (1982) by Blake B — 14 Jul 2009

In my pursuit of collecting Robert De Niro movies, I came across this apparently little-known and underrated Scorsese film. I wasn't expecting to be so interested in it because I'm not old enough to care about Jerry Lewis, and I never really pictured De Niro as a stand-up comedian. That was perfect, though, because it brought the right level of awkwardness to the role that really enhances his character, rather than detracts from it (his screen-name is also perfectly awkward--Rupert Pupkin).

The story is a fairly straight-forward desperate-stalker movie (though there are two of them here, De Niro and Sandra Bernhard) on the surface, but it's actually a pretty dark comedy that is going somewhere. The ending is really wonderfully satirical. On the surface, it appears a man has finally achieved his dream after years of hard work, when really the ending is a subtle dig at the way Americans eat up gimmicks, rather than appreciate talent. We see throughout the movie that Pupkin is not really that talented, but that hardly matters once he follows through the movie's climax. I really wasn't seeing that ending coming, and it was a great little ah ha! moment that I really liked from the writers and Scorsese. That aspect of American entertainment really explains how we have so many famous people in our country who aren't actually that talented in what they're doing.

As I said earlier, De Niro is perfectly awkward throughout the movie. It's a reason that he did well in Mad Dog and Glory. When he's out of his element, he lets it show on-screen, which really adds a layer to the character that most other actors wouldn't be able to naturally. In this way, Pupkin's awkwardness and the way he sets himself up for really humiliating outcomes is palpable. There are more than a few cringe-worthy moments, but they're pulled off superbly. It's also fitting that De Niro, one of film's biggest stars of the last-quarter of the 20th century, is in the role of a celebrity stalker.

As for Jerry Lewis, it doesn't really matter that I don't know much about him, other than people in France love him and he's always getting people to give him money on Public Broadcasting. His role is to play a generic, popular, big-time late night show host a la David Letterman/Jay Leno, and he does it well. But you probably could have plugged in any of the big timers from that era and it would have been the same (unless there's something in Jerry Lewis' background that I just don't know about that would make him a perfect choice for this role).

The King of Comedy is creepy, dark, humiliating, cringe-inducing, satisfying, funny, and, ultimately, a nice play on "famous" people that Americans can't get enough of. This movie is thoroughly underrated and is one of those movies that I probably couldn't go out and find five people who have even heard of it. It's one of De Niro's strangest and best out-of-his-element performances, and one of Scorsese's best non-mob movies. Fans of both men should really get this on their must-see list if they haven't already.