Uneven 'The Comedian' doesn't measure up to Robert De Niro's performance
Robert De Niro, the star of 鈥淭he Comedian,鈥� was for many years identified primarily as an actor of searing, spooky seriousness 鈥� think Martin Scorsese鈥檚 鈥淭axi Driver鈥� or 鈥淩aging Bull.鈥� But he began his career with spoofy black comedies like Brian De Palma鈥檚 鈥淗i, Mom!鈥� and, even in those celebrated Scorsese films, which also include 鈥淢ean Streets鈥� and 鈥淕oodfellas,鈥� his scary-funny riffs displayed a kind of comedy much closer to edgy, improvisational humor than traditional Hollywood yocks.
When De Niro lost his edge years ago and became a far more conventional actor, it was doubly disappointing that he chose to make a mini-career out of goofballing his old intensity in such films as 鈥淎nalyze This,鈥� 鈥淎nalyze That,鈥� and the 鈥淢eet the Fockers鈥� series. Yes, he was funny in those films, in the way that Marlon Brando was funny lampooning Vito Corleone when he made 鈥淭he Freshman,鈥� but it was nevertheless discomfiting that De Niro chose to cash in on his heatedness by repeatedly trashing it.
In the highly uneven 鈥淭he Comedian,鈥� directed by Taylor Hackford and written by Art Linson, Jeffrey Ross, Richard LaGravenese, and Lewis Friedman, De Niro is attempting, with some success, to merge his old scary-funny persona. As Jackie Burke, he is playing a washed-up comic whose sole hit, an 鈥淎ll in the Family鈥�-style sitcom, ended decades ago.聽
Audiences still recognize him and cheer him on, even though his assaultive, obscenity-laced stand-up routines are now mostly relegated to thinly attended basement comedy clubs. What keeps him going? It鈥檚 not the money, exactly, since there鈥檚 precious little of that to be had. What he still craves, though he won鈥檛 admit it, is the audience鈥檚 acceptance. He insults them to test their affection.聽
A run-in with an unruly audience member lands him a monthlong prison sentence for assault, followed by mandatory community service in a soup kitchen, where he meets Harmony (a terrific Leslie Mann), who is also doing community time there. (Her bullying father is well played by Harvey Keitel, De Niro鈥檚 costar in 鈥淢ean Streets鈥� 44 years ago.) She鈥檚 as caustic as he is, but livelier and sunnier. Together they form an unlikely alliance that鈥檚 mostly, but not altogether, platonic.聽
De Niro isn鈥檛 playing Jackie for easy laughs. There鈥檚 a hard-bitten core to his grumblings. In movies like 鈥淲ag the Dog鈥� and the almost unseen 鈥淲hat Just Happened,鈥� De Niro demonstrated that, as a mature actor, he could still mainline that subversive comic essence that graced his early work. Some of that essence comes through in 鈥淭he Comedian鈥� as well, although the movie itself isn鈥檛 up to his performance and ultimately drags it down.聽
One problem with the film is that Jackie鈥檚 routines 鈥� including a nasty monologue delivered at his lesbian niece鈥檚 wedding (her parents are played broadly by Danny DeVito and Patti LuPone) and another at an old-age home in Florida 鈥� are clearly meant to be funnier and sharper than they are. What is intended as scalding truth-telling comes across more like slamming. De Niro captures Jackie鈥檚 volatile mixture of pride and self-hatred, and the rhythm of his comic riffs are expertly delivered, but the material itself doesn鈥檛 support the effort.聽
Hackford trots out a series of familiar, in some cases faded, faces from the past, including Charles Grodin, Jimmie Walker, Richard Belzer, Cloris Leachman, and Billy Crystal, but the effect is disheartening, like being trapped inside a mediocre Friars Club Roast.聽
If nothing else, I hope that 鈥淭he Comedian鈥� signals an attempt by De Niro to once again take acting seriously. Without much supporting evidence, he鈥檚 still routinely called our greatest living actor. There鈥檚 still time to make good on that. Grade: C+ (Rated R for crude sexual references and language throughout.)
