Review of The King of Comedy (1982) by Erik C — 22 Mar 2009

Restrained direction and a focused satirical screenplay by Paul D. Zimmerman make this Martin Scorsese film from 1983 not only one of his best but also one of his most misunderstood films. Robert De Niro plays Rupert Pupkin, an aspiring stand-up comedian either so pathetically or so ingenuously tenacious in his attempts to have a one-on-one meeting with showbiz legend and talk show host Jerry Langford (a subdued Jerry Lewis) that he resorts to kidnapping his idol with the help of his equally psychotic friend Masha (Sandra Bernhard).

Pupkin's ransom: Langford's safe return in exchange for an appearance on his late night talk show. Scorsese's approach to his characters has never been this undemonstrative, and much of the film's unsettling nature originates in how the two leads play against type: De Niro as paltry geek and Lewis as no-nonsense egoist.

The "artificiality" of this casting (as well as that of the amateurs Bernhard and Diahnne Abbott, who was De Niro's wife at the time) only augments the ridicule of the ever-increasing role of infamy in American celebrity culture.

Sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but always uncomfortable.