THE COMEDIAN (Taylor Hackford). 120 minutes. Opens Friday (February 3). See listing. Rating: NNN
What’s most surprising about The Comedian is how funny Robert De Niro is – and not in a corny Meet The Parents sort of way.
His cocky swagger, dangerous spontaneity and cutting sarcasm are just right for veteran stand-up comic Jackie Burke, who’s best known for starring on a silly sitcom decades earlier and now plays small clubs for audiences who only want him to repeat his stupid TV catchphrase.
When a cameraphone video of him punching a heckler goes viral, Jackie’s arrested and forced to do community service at a soup kitchen, where he meets Leslie Mann’s wounded, vulnerable Harmony.
Their hackneyed romance is the weakest part of the film. But since Harmony’s mobster dad is played by Harvey Keitel, it does allow for a couple of scenes between De Niro and his Mean Streets/Taxi Driver co-star.
In fact, the chief joy of this film isn’t the predictable plot, which attempts to say something about social media and the vagaries of the business. Instead, it’s watching De Niro act opposite people like Danny DeVito (excellent, as Jackie’s brother), Edie Falco (as Jackie’s agent) and Cloris Leachman (as a Phyllis Diller type icon). A shame that Broadway great Patti LuPone’s sister-in-law is reduced to such a gorgon.
To the ensemble writing team and director Taylor Hackford’s credit, Jackie isn’t given a typical redemption narrative. Look at the intriguing scene set at a lesbian wedding to see how the writers resist pulling their punches when it comes to the jokes.
Even a ridiculous midway narrative turn can’t spoil the pleasure of watching De Niro interact with lots of real comics, including old-timers Billy Crystal, Bret Butler and Jimmie Walker and current stars Jim Norton, Jessica Kirson and Hannibal Buress.
De Niro holds his own sparring with them all.
