Butler's Cinema Scene

Leslie Man, Robert DeNiro

“THE COMEDIAN”  My rating: D

119 minutes | MPAA rating: R

While I can’t definitively say that “The Comedian” is the worst film of Robert DeNiro’s career, I can safely pronounce it one of the least enjoyable.

An alternately irritating and alienating effort that threatens to trash the reputation of everyone involved — and we’re talking lots of big names — “The Comedian” finds DeNiro playing Jackie Burke, a comic whose best days are long behind him.

Jackie’s claim to fame is a ‘70s TV sitcom called “Eddie’s Home.” Nearly a half-century later he’s still besieged by fans who call him Eddie instead of Jackie.  He’s got a thin skin — which is how he comes to punch out a heckler at a regional comedy club, followed by 30 days in the hoosegow.

Jackie is a pain in the ass to be around. An insult comic on the stage, he’s not much better in his personal life. He’s combative, angry and royally pissed at the miserable state of his career.

Now that might be palatable if we thought Jackie had some real talent. But this is one of those films where the comics in the movie tell jokes that would never get them a gig in the real world. And Jackie is the least among them.

Once out of stir, Jackie must fulfill 100 days of community service in a soup kitchen. There he meets  the ditzy Harmony (Leslie Mann), who is paying off her debt to society for assaulting her ex’s new girlfriend.

Their relationship…well, it’s not exactly love, but it’ll have to do.

What’s astounding here is the level of talent frittered away.

Directing is the usually reliable Taylor Hackford (“Against All Odds,” “Ray”), the screenplay is by producer and comedy afficianado Ray Linson, who wrote it specifically for his friend DeNiro.  Jackie’s onstage routine was developed by real-world insult comic Jeff Garland.

The supporting players are a Who’s Who of funny: Cloris Leachman,  Charles Grodin and, as themselves,  Brett Butler, Billy Crystal, Gilbert Gottfried and Jimmie “JJ” Walker.

Danny DeVito portrays Jackie’s long-suffering brother; Patti LuPone is his Jackie-hating wife. A wasted Edie Falco is Jackie’s astoundingly patient and loyal agent. Harvey Keitel is repellant as Harmony’s obnoxious, mobbed-up father.

I’m not sure what to say about DeNiro’s performance. We know he can do comedy, but here nothing clicks. He’s playing Jackie as the part is written, and that’s not nearly enough to make us want to hang around.

Hovering over the proceedings is Martin Scorsese’s 1982 “The King of Comedy” in which DeNiro played an inept wannabe comic who kidnaps a TV talk show host and ends up with a late-night network gig of  his own.

DeNiro’s Rupert Pupkin couldn’t tell a joke to save his soul, but the film around him was a brilliant dissection of pop culture fame and the inane taste of the general public.

“The Comedian” wants to tap into some of that same disdain, but can’t come up with any of the insights.

| Robert W. Butler