DeniDVD Vault: The King Of Comedy - Robert DeNiro
May 12th 2010 16:14
Category: Comedy, What to Rent?
The heart of this movie is balanced on one key scene. Rupert Pupkin is daydreaming about being on the The Jerry Langford Show a show along the same lines as Johnny Carson. In his dreams, he's made it as a successful comedian, he's about to marry the girl of his dreams in front of a live studio audience, and just before the ceremony is about to take place, the man who performs the wedding, a former councilor at the high school Rubert attended, looks at Rubert and apologizes to him and also on behalf of all the kids and teachers Rupert grew up with in highschool who ridiculed Rupert and told him that he'd never amount to anything, that he was a nobody - "we were all wrong..." the man says, "...and you were right!"
Up until that moment we don't know what drives Rupert to talk to cardboard cut outs in his pretend world. Sure he wants to be a comedian, he wants fame and fortune but most of all he wants to be some body. In his fantasy he's the next "King Of Comedy", in all his fantasies, he's completely confident, arrogant, charming, professional, all these things which go hand and hand with fame, because when you're famous, you're all those things and much much more.
When we meet Rupert, opportunity presents him with a chance meeting with his idol, Jerry Langford. Jerry reluctantly offers to give Rupert a ride home after Rupert rescues him from being mauled by an over-zealous fan, Masha (Sandra Bernhard) after a taping of the show. Here Rupert seizes this moment and approaches Jerry for a 10 minute spot on his show. Of course, Jerry must get propositioned like this a lot from wannabe comedians looking for their big break so to indulge Rupert, he gives advice that "you must start at the bottom" and work your way up but he also brushes Rupert off by telling him to prepare some material and he'll listen to it - knowing full well that he'll probably never see Rupert again.
Rupert's meeting with Jerry is when his fantasy becomes a reality. Jerry Langford is finally a real person to him and not a cardboard cutout. A person who talked to him, who gave him advice. In Rupert's mind they are friends but what comes next is the most excruciating and painful display of rejection, acceptance, madness and irony. Rupert's attempts to make contact with his "friend" are rejected and he's kicked out of Langford's offices several times after insisting that Jerry wants to speak with him based on their imaginary friendship and still not getting the point, he makes one more embarrassing effort to see Jerry by inviting himself into Jerry's home.
DeNiro plays Rupert as a ticking time bomb that never goes off. At some point you expect him to just go off his face but he doesn't and I'm happy about that because it would have been predictable. It's not about that type of character, this is about a man who's desperate for one chance to prove himself and just as his daydreams have spilled over into his reality, his desperation has blurred the lines of right and wrong, when he and his accomplice, Masha, hatch an elaborate scheme to give Rupert his 10 minute spot.
Robert DeNiro and Sandra Bernhard
Now of course this film has a lot to say about fame and celebrity but I think the driving force of the film, personally, lies in Rupert's reckless desire to achieve his goal no matter what the cost and the irony is that, of course, he just might have become even more famous than Jerry will ever be.
Jerry Lewis is great as Jerry Langford, he is also a lonely man who's a prisoner of his own fame. There are tons of Ruperts that approach him constantly, they call his office, pretending to be people they are not just for the chance to speak with him - to get their chance. Is it any wonder that he seems to cold and dismissive?
I consider this to be one of DeNiro's best performances, especially since Rupert Pupkin was so against type that it was hard to believe that DeNiro was hiding under the bad haircut, the plaid polyester suit and white shoes. It was also against type for director, Martin Scorsese but what is consistent is his exploration of irredeemable characters.
This movie flopped when it was released in 1983 but DeNiro is on record as saying that he thought it was one of the best films he's done with Scorsese and I agree - it's also one of the most under-rated movies of all time.
| 88 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
Great review.
I love this film too and like you rank it as one of De Niro's finest moments.
Bold film making for its time or now. I love the darker atmosphere that permeates adding a warped truth to everything.
Comment by Deni
Abstract Magick
Cinema Herald
Yeah, this one is on my shelf!