THE KING OF COMEDY

Like a lot of people (other than maybe the critics) I didn't much care for this Scorsese-De Niro collaboration when it was first released. 

But its reputation in the 40-odd years since has been on an upward trajectory, so I thought it deserved a rewatch.

And I still don't like it much. 

It's main merit is its prescience back in 1982 about where our celebrity-obsessed culture was heading.

And the performances are all fine. I especially enjoyed that of Jerry Lewis as comedian Jerry Langford although I wouldn't have minded his character being a bit meaner.

De Niro is very good at making his character Rupert Pupkin (an aspiring comedian) quite creepy but not totally unsympathetic.

But as a black satire it’s not that funny and not that black either, it's all a bit restrained.  Bob Fosse considered directing it for a while, and it's fascinating to speculate what his version would have looked like.  Rather livelier I would guess.

Roger Ebert as usual summed it up perfectly - "It is frustrating to watch, unpleasant to remember, and, in its own way, quite effective."

RATING: ✓ If You've Nothing Better To Do