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Comedian Jerry Seinfeld has finally made a movie, but it's not what you would expect. Even at the height of Senfield's TV popularity, he never made the jump to the big screen and turned down numerous offers to make a traditional Hollywood film. So what is different about Comedian? It's a documentary that follows Jerry Seinfeld on his quest to get back into the game of stand up comedy. Comedian shows us that, like a great ballplayer who wants to see if he still has something left in him, Jerry Seinfeld decided to come out of retirement. Before Seinfeld was picked up by NBC, Jerry was one of America's best stand up comedians, something he did for over ten years. Night after night, town after town, Seinfeld would get up on stage and entertain for 10, 20, 30 even 60 minutes. Early in Comedian, he explains that this feeling, this type of work, is something that he never got out of his system and it's something that he enjoys doing. So, Seinfeld abandoned his tried and true act - the one that got him on The Tonight Show, got him the Seinfeld TV Show, the one that was the basis for his #1 best selling book - and started over from scratch. In Comedian, we are treated to the genesis of this new act and all of its pitfalls. Director Christian Charles provides interesting insight into the world of stand up comedy and the movie excels when he captures those backstage, candid moments between Seinfeld and the world's greatest stand up comedians - Robert Klein, Bill Cosby, Colin Quinn, Chris Rock, Jay Leno and more. These conversations provide a look at how an act is formed, the nervousness each performer feels, the torture of success and failure, the comeraderie between the comics, and the business's ugly side. Ultimately, Comedian fails to become an excellent film because Charles also intersplices the story of Orny Adams. Adams is an up and coming comedian who crosses Seinfeld's path, and we get to see what it is like for him to try to get his big break. This could have been an interesting movie on its own, but in Comedian, it's a distraction. The paying customers want to see Jerry Seinfeld, and that's the more interesting movie. Adams, while living up to the cliché of the comedian who is crying inside, should have been cut out of the film. If you are a Jerry Seinfeld fan or someone who loves stand up comedy, this is a great movie for you. Grade: B+ Copyright 2002 - WaffleMovies.com
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