Review of The King of Comedy (1982) by Ned P — 23 May 2008

For all his brilliant performances, you could make a decent argument for De Niro's strongest turn coming in this blacker-than-black comedy from Martin Scorsese. De Niro is flawless as a loser comic obsessed with getting his 15 minutes of fame, managing to vividly portray the eccentricity of the character and yet elicit a huge amount of sympathy at the same time.

In unchartered territory, Scorsese's handling of the material is simply superb, making you wonder why he doesn't delve into blackly comic areas more often in his other work, such is his proficiency at doing so.

Appreciation of the film would probably be heightened by repeat viewings, because there is a lot to take in here, despite the simplicity of the story. Memorable stuff.