The King of Comedy - Movie Review
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Sandra Bernhard, Diahnne Abbott
Runtime: 1hr 49min
Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video
Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro) is a failure in life but a celebrity in his own mind, hosting an imaginary talk show in his mother's basement. When he meets actual talk show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis), he's convinced it will provide his big break, but Langford isn't interested in the would-be comedian. Undaunted, Pupkin effectively stalks Langford -- and when that doesn't work, he kidnaps him, offering his release in exchange for a guest spot on Langford's show.
If you know me, I am a huge fan of one of America's Favourite most celebrated filmmakers "Martin 'freaking' Scorsese" and there's a reason why his films are all great. And so is this movie.
We see our protagonist Rupert Pupkin who is a loner. Which immediately makes us relate to him. Because it's something we all have experienced. He has high hopes of himself, which could disengage us with his character, but it doesn't because it is only shown to us to a certain limit. Rupert desperately wants to be seen. Wants to be noticed, to be heard. Which is what we all want.
One thing he constantly does is record his material (comedy/jokes material) and he happens to have cardboard figures of his favourite celebrities in a small talk show set where he talks to said cardboard figures and has conversations with them as if they're in an interview and he's being asked questions. Which makes us self-reflect on how far people can go, and how alone they can feel, how people feel alienated and severed from human interaction. Personally, I do the same and that makes him relatable to me.
Now Rupert certainly isn't a perfect character by all means. He is flawed like all of us. Rupert is ambitious, and wants to make it big as a loved and adored comedian. He, like us, has an idol who he worships whole heartedly. A famous comedian named Jerry Langford (played by Jerry Lewis) and is constantly trying to get him to listen to his material and be recognised. He does interact with Jerry, and is even given advice, to keep practicing his material, give a shot in stand-up shows, and after years of hard work, make it big.
But Rupert doesn't pay any heed to this piece of advice as he is impatient, and wants to attain success quickly. Which is what makes him flawed. He wants to marry the love of his life, become famous, and be adored worldwide. Which are all normal ambitions to have. But he doesn't put in the effort to work for all these desires. Now Rupert is so socially isolated that he literally has dream sequences which are so vivid and detailed, that we first perceive them to be actual scenes. He dreams his desires, like Jerry telling him that his jokes are outstanding, or him marrying his love as his school teacher personally apologised to him for mistreating and misunderstanding him on his wedding. Which is very Joker like as this film was a heavy inspiration for the film itself.
He eventually teams up with his Jerry Langford obsessed ally "Masha" (played by Sandra Bernhard) and kidnap Langford after he humiliated Rupert as he was interrupting Jerry's life whereas he was unwanted.
There was no other way, or at least according to him, and so he sees this as the only quick way to fame.
And after blackmailing Jerry's staff, he gets a slot to be the host of the show for a night. Now the police knew about Rupert, but didn't know Jerry's location, which is why they have to wait for Rupert to finish his stand-up. But Rupert honestly doesn't care, because as long as he gets what he desires, he's okay with anything that happens after, which is just great character building. And finally, Rupert takes over the stage and speaks out his material, and...people loved it in an outstanding one-take monologue by De Niro which is applaud worthy.
And thus he becomes a sensation as he always wished for, despite his methods being wrong.
This film talks about the dangers of celebrity worship, and shows us the harshness and cruelty of this world and how a man tries his best to make it big and be heard and noticed. Even the city of New York is a character in and of itself and that's brilliant.
This film is an underrated and intimate character study on how people want attention in a positive light and wish to hear appreciation for their work and passion behind said work, which is a very basic human feeling. I personally believe this film is no less than a masterpiece and deserves to be celebrated.
- 4.5/5
I hope you liked this blog review, please make sure to comment about your thoughts on the film, or on how I could possibly improve. Also follow my YouTube Channel "Detox with P-Talks Official" where I analyse movies and do other movie related content along with short films, etc.
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