User reviews

Yes it is funny. Yes the humor is often crude. That's comedy!! The well rounded cast, great storylines, and true to real life conflicts made it interesting and satisfying to watch.

The Comedian has a damn impressive cast, De Niro, Keitel and Mann. Immediatly I had high hopes, alas they weren't met but the film isn't a complete bust.

It tells the story of an ageing comedian on the road to comeback. His foul mouth and controversial style doesn't appeal to everyone and to make matters worse his considerably younger on/off girlfriend is harbouring a secret that will change everything.

Everyone is on form and there are laughs to be had but much of the film feels like a structureless art piece and simply doesn't flow.

One thing I truly liked was how much I empathised with DeNiro, how much I found myself relating to him and yet hoping that isn't what I have to look forward to in my old age.

The Comedian is more a drama with some comedic moments than a comedy, but considering its subject matter it's still head and shoulders over the likes of Funny People (2009).

The Good:

Cast are great

The more I see Leslie Mann the more I like her

Some funny moments

The Bad:

Weirdly paced

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

DeNiro has reinvented himself like no actor before him

I hope I never hit an time where I need to go for a number 3

If you think about it, Robert De Niro is a very funny guy! Starting right before the turn of the century, he started playing off of the perception that he's super intense by doing almost as many comedies as dramas – movies like "Dirty Grandpa", "The Family", "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" and, of course, the "Analyze This" and "Meet the Parents" films. Still, funny isn't the first adjective that comes to mind when most Movie Fans hear the legendary actor's name. And that's understandable. The most lauded period in his career was in the 1970s, when he was filming dramas like "Mean Streets", "The Godfather: Part II", "Taxi Driver", "The Deer Hunter" and "Raging Bull", but De Niro himself feels that he has a sense of humor that has helped him in his work. As he has said, "I've always done comedies. There were comic elements in 'Mean Streets' and even 'Taxi Driver'. And I did 'The King of Comedy'. I've always had what I consider to be a good sense of humor." That last film, which was released in 1982, is partly a dark comedy, but even more of a drama (and presages De Niro's 1990s stalker roles in "Cape Fear" and "The Fan") but he IS a comedian in "The King of Comedy". In 2016's "The Comedian" (R, 1:59), De Niro plays a different kind of comic. The latter film has less emphasis on the dark and more on the comedy. As in "The King of Comedy" De Niro's titular comedian has serious personal issues, but this role is less like that delusional character and more like early 2016's hilariously inappropriate "Dirty Grandpa".

De Niro's 2016 cinematic comedian is a senior citizen with a serious attitude problem – and a seriously funny schtick – both in terms of his jokes and his outrageous antics. De Niro plays Jackie Burke, a sitcom star from the 1980s who is still struggling to break free from "Eddie", his show's police officer family man character – and his popular catchphrase ("Hey, Arleeeeen"). A woman called Miller (Edie Falco), Jackie's long-suffering agent (and daughter of the agent he had early in his career), gets him a stand-up gig as part of a nostalgia show featuring comics who had previously starred in sitcoms (including Jimmie Walker and Brett Butler, as themselves). Jackie's self-loathing boils over when he realizes that an audience member (Happy Anderson) is heckling so it can be taped and posted as a webisode. Jackie comes down into the audience, gets into an altercation with the heckler and punches him with the mic, bloodying the heckler's face. During the resulting court appearance, Jackie refuses to properly apologize for the incident and comically insults the man instead, earning 30 days in jail for contempt of court.

When Jackie is back out on the streets of New York, his life is even more of a mess than before his comedy club incident. Miller has a hard time booking much of anything for her acerbic client and Jackie visits his younger brother, Jimmy (Danny DeVito), and Jimmy's disapproving wife, Florence (Patti LuPone), to give him a loan until he can get something going. Jackie also still has to perform the 100 hours of community service that was part of his original plea deal. He pays this part of his debt to society at a soup kitchen where he serves the homeless and keeps them entertained with an impromptu stream of ribald humor. This is also where he meets Harmony Schiltz (Leslie Mann), who is working off an assault charge of her own, while being harassed by her rich father (Harvey Keitel) who insists that she come back to Florida with him. While Harmony and Jackie strike up an unlikely friendship, he finds himself getting back on track after some videos of various unplanned public antics start to go viral.

"The Comedian" is sometimes funny and often uncomfortable to watch, but it's an interesting character study. Jackie isn't easy to like – for the other characters in his life, for the members of his various audiences or for the real-life Movie Fans watching this film… but his struggles for respect and relevance, for career success on his own terms and for maybe even a little bit of love, are challenges to which we can all relate. The stand-up routines, which alternate between planned and impromptu, are often humorous, sometimes off-putting and always raw and politically incorrect. The real-life comics (including Billy Crystal, Cloris Leachman and Charles Grodin), some playing themselves and some playing colleagues of the title character, add realism and a few laughs to the story, but Taylor Hackford's direction feels uneven. De Niro's performance is typically outstanding and, as he has been so many times before, is pretty funny – even in the midst of his character's personal and professional suffering. Unfortunately, there's a bit of suffering for us Movie Fans too as we struggle do decide how we feel about the main character, endure a few too many awkward moments and find ourselves wondering (much like many of Jackie's audience members in the film) how funny he actually is – and if it's okay to laugh at his boundary-pushing jokes and actions. "The Comedian" makes us laugh and suggests that we think, but requires that we put a little too much effort into deciding how we feel about the darkly comedic script and its often disagreeable characters. "B-"

The Comedian (2016)

** (out of 4)

Former TV star Jackie Burke (Robert DeNiro) is now performing in small and useless clubs where his profane and offensive act really isn't going over any more. After an altercation with a heckler, Jackie finds himself doing community service where he meets a young woman (Leslie Mann) and soon them two kick it off as the comedian finds more and more going wrong in his life.

Can someone explain how a movie director by Taylor Hackford with a cast that includes DeNiro, Mann, Harvey Keitel, Danny DeVito, Charles Grodin, Cloris Leachman and Billy Crystal could turn out so lifeless? I mean, how on Earth can you get such talent in one movie and the end result be so bad? I've heard that the film was booed and had several walk-outs during its premiere in Toronto. I'm not sure how try that is but if so that's a bit harsh because the movie isn't that bad but at the same time it is incredibly disappointing and rather pointless.

This was apparently a dream project for DeNiro who spent several years trying to get it off the ground. People have given the actor a lot of crap over the past decade or so for his willingness to do any film for a check. I will never put someone down for wanting to make money and the actor has appeared in some lousy movies and some others that he was just lending his name to for a check but he always delivered a performance and made those films better. For the first time in his career I think he's the reason a movie is bad.

Sadly, DeNiro just isn't very good here and there's no question that he just wasn't right for the role. I'm really not sure what the screenplay was trying to do or say but it just doesn't work and the entire film just seems rather pointless. DeNiro is certainly giving it an A effort but there's just no soul or anything to the character. DeNiro is actually pretty boring in the part and he just wasn't believable as this washed up comic. This here shocked me because I think the actor can do comedy and he's played a comedian before in the masterpiece THE KING OF COMEDY. It just doesn't work here and it's really too bad.

The only time his performance really sparks is a sequence where he and Keitel go after one another. If you're a fan of the early films they did together then you'll get a kick out of seeing them battle again. Mann was good in her supporting role as was Grodin, Leachman and Crystal in their bit parts. DeVito gets a couple funny moments as well but there's no question that they can't save the film. Yes, even DeNiro has a couple funny bits but there's just no denying that overall the film is a major misfire.

I'm really not sure what the point of THE COMEDIAN was as the screenplay is all over the place. Is it meant to show us the bottom side of the comedy game? Watch THE WRESTLER, which did a much better job at showing the low points of a profession. Was the romance with Mann supposed to mean something? If so, what when you've got DeNiro and her father (Keitel) fighting like a romantic comedy? There's a dramatic twist in the story at the end. What was the point? What was the point of the DeNiro character being so unlikable? THE COMEDIAN isn't an awful film. It's slightly entertaining and the cast will at least keep you glued to what's going on but there's no doubt that the film is just a major bust.

Former TV sitcom star-turned-insult comic in New York City is left without booking prospects after he assaults a heckler at an out-of-town club; he spends 30 days in jail (for contempt of court) and must perform 100 hours of community service at a soup kitchen, where he meets an attractive but stressed-out lady with similar anger management issues. Impeccably cast character-comedy featuring a terrific ensemble supporting star Robert De Niro (doing savvy, acerbic work). Edie Falco is De Niro's humorless manager, Danny DeVito is a welcome sight playing De Niro's brother, Patti LuPone is a hoot as Danny's disgusted wife, Leslie Mann is an appealing love-interest (with a hard shell) and Harvey Keitel as Mann's steely-eyed father has an edgy, amazing scene with De Niro in his restaurant. This world of aging comics, living on their faded glories, is sharply-captured, with all the requisite humiliations intact. The film is a dirty-fingered valentine to show biz, an accurately sour love note to the 'profession' of being a once-was. It isn't pretty...but then, comedy isn't pretty. **1/2 from ****

This is a nice romcom which contains some crude humour but its not really about the comedy content. All the poor reviews are missing the admiration the movie tries to show for those few individuals that can hold an audience and make them laugh.

Its hard enough public speaking but to then capture an audience and hold them in your hand hanging on your every word making them laugh is what this movie is trying to show. I think Robert De Niro is a great comedy actor but from his interviews probably an introvert personality so no doubt admires the skill of people like Billy Crystal, who has a small cameo, greatly and the reason he did this movie.

Harvey Keitel's face after the final performance in the retirement home summed up the movie. Grudging admiration for the skill of live comedy.

This film's audience should have been an older crowd, but Hackford felt he had to try to be edgy and current by making Deniro's character a shocking and filthy comedian. Unfortunately, aside from the filthy comedy, the rest of the film felt like it was directed by an out of touch yuppie director, so it felt disconnected. Even Hackford's recreation of video gone viral felt inauthentic and created by someone's grandfather. Hackford is so out of touch, it's embarrassing.

Deniro was great except for the time he was performing comedy in the film. Even the well written jokes failed when delivered by him because he is not funny. I didn't buy him as a comedian at all. It looked like he was reading his jokes from cue cards.

This film was uncomfortable to watch because it was so bad.

As good an actor as De Niro is, he is no stand-up comic. He can't even fake it.

But the blame doesn't go mainly to casting. The story and script is a torture to endure. This movie is so packed with clichés, I was calling out events and lines just before they happened. There is no denying that a great cast was assembled, so the painful performances from Harvey Keitel, Danny DeVito, Patty Lupone, Charles Grodin and Cloris Leachman can only be credited to godawful material and flat directing. The editing was painful too, with every single scene transition initiated by establishing shots. Tiresome.

The only bright spot is Leslie Mann, whose charisma somehow breaks through the dreck. I would like to see her in more good movies, and I don't mean more Judd Apatow movies.

I like De Niro and DeVito. I was so disappointed! Argh! Not one laugh and it was painful to watch!!! A well placed F bomb is cool but when comedy consists of more bombs in a sentence than regular words it comes across like it was written by an uneducated buffoon. Yep...It was! Honestly, did De Niro really have to jump at a D grade script? The big funnies are toilet words. Really!!! Ummmmm....Toilet words are funny to 8 or 9 year old kiddies. If adults find this hilarious I am truly disappointed in humanity. No laughs here. On a final note I was shocked hearing a mere child deliver a stand-up comedy routine complete with F bombs worse than I would expect out of the mouth of a 60 year old trucker. This movie was F bomb bad!!!

What's the matta wit you? I am puzzled by all the negative reviews. Yes, it's not The King of Comedy, or Goodfellas. But this movie was funny. De Niro's character Jackie was a 3-dimensional and human portrayal, and doesn't deserve to be dismissed as "another De Niro phoning it in" performance. The scenes where he performs stand-up comedy were genuinely funny. The relationship he has with his brother (Danny DeVito) were warm and convincing.

It may not be a timeless masterpiece, but if you're at the Red Box or looking for your next movie night rental from the couch it is worth seeing.

For what it's worth, I think Dirty Grandpa was raunchy and hilarious, and Grudge Match was also funny and had heart - with touching performances by both De Niro and Stallone.

Jackie Burke (Robert DeNiro) a former TV star tries his hand at Stand-up Comedy and fails for the most part as the audience wants to remember him as that former TV star, but he prevails when some videos go viral and he becomes a shock jock comedian.

I looked at this as a slice of life for someone who was once famous for a TV show and then honestly tries his hand at Stand-up. Yes, there is a lot of language in here and sometimes I felt he would embarrass himself, but somehow he gets away with it; and yes, there are some raunchy utterances too. Those videos that go viral get him the attention and jobs he needs to succeed.

It all starts when Jackie punches an audience member who was taping and criticizing his act and that scene went viral. See? Since he won't apologize to that member, as part of his sentence for being in contempt of court, he goes to jail for 30 days and later meets love interest Harmony Schiltz (Leslie Mann) at the homeless soup kitchen where he must complete community service.

All in all there are plenty of chuckles as well as all the language and raunchy stuff. Many dialogues are honest and often funny without intending to be.

Notables: Danny DeVito as Jackie's brother James; Pattie LuPone as Flo married to James; Edie Falco as Miller, Jackie's agent; Harvey Keitel as Mac Schiltz, Harmony's father; Charles Grodin as Dick D'Angelo the Abbot at the Friar's club; Cloris Leachman as May Connor a 95-yrs old movie star who is honored at the Friar's club roast; and Billy Crystal as himself when he meets Jackie in an elevator.

One thing about Jackie's Stand-up. He never had any prepared material. It was always off the cuff. So much had happened in his life (those videos) it was only natural he talked about some of those things on stage and it worked.

I honestly didn't think DeNiro could pull this off as I thought he bombed in previous comedies I am sorry to say I watched and I was pleasantly surprised in here. But think of it this way: He honestly didn't try to be funny. That was the key to this success. He is acting in a drama and trying to get his character's life back after success in a popular TV show and doing Stand-up is hard, but he knows there is an audience for raunchy humor and he goes for it. And while doing all of this he is given good funny lines at times. (And raunchy lines too) All in all DeNiro does a credible job. (7/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes.

The film "The Comedian" is not really funny , kind of annoying and nasty. Is Robert De Niros character , Jackie Burke , supposed to be Rupert Pupkin after thirty years in the business , all bitter , nasty and burned out? Of course , "King of Comedy" was a much better and entertaining movie had more interesting characters and focus , and Scorsese is a better director than Taylor Hackford. I don't understand why ANYONE would find Jackie Burke funny , charming or anything. It wanted to be a nice character study between Deniro and Leslie Mann , which sort of works , but then you have the relationship between Jackie Burke and his brother , played by Danny DeVito, which was just annoying. Italians playing Jews is an interesting dynamic , and , as I like to say , Jews and Italians are very similar in character , especially in New York. It could have been a lot better , but it is what it is, which is not a very good film.

I love Grandpa DeNiro, he is one of the great actor ever alongside Dwayne Johnson and Vin Diesel. But my expectation is too high from this movie, I thought it will be funny, my bad for not checking out the rating first because I don't like to do that for not spoil the mood. But yeah, Grandpa DeNiro did not fit with the role as a crude comedian. At first, I think every joke don't fit with non-American people, I'm from Asia by the way but I guess all the laugh we heard is the believable fake laugh by the hardworking extras who they paid to laugh. I agreed with other reviewer that said that this movie is lifeless, it have no soul. Its just like some dry salted fish, I never laugh at all even tho I laugh so hard with other American comedy before. Its too long & unfunny. 3* for hardworking DeNiro, Mann-Apatow & all the extras. I just don't get it. Sorry.

"My dad used to love your TV show. We've watched every episode." Jackie Burke (De Niro) is an aging stand-up comic who is trying to regain his glory days. When he gets into a fight with an audience member he is sentenced to jail and community service. While doing his work he meets Harmony (Mann). The two begin a relationship that has surprising results for everyone. This is a movie that I wanted to see mainly for the cast, and was not disappointed. The movie itself is very good but not amazing, but the acting in it is just great. Seeing De Niro and Keitel together again is great and Devito and De Niro have great chemistry together. This is a movie that is just plain fun to watch. It won't win any awards or become a De Niro classic but this is one I could watch a few times and not be bored. Overall, one of De Niro's best movies in a while and one that I do recommend. I give this a high B.

It's hard to fathom how &/or why so many otherwise savvy film folks got involved with this dumb vulgar travesty. The quick & easy answer is probably most (e.g. Billy Crystal & Cloris Leachman) only had brief cameos & never saw the entire script.

The trivia notes to the movie state that one team wrote the plot & another the jokes. I don't know who did a worse job. Plotwise, among other things it was never made clear why the Harmony character was doing community service nor why (or even if) she "fell" for the Jackie character. Hard to believe in any case.

Although he was funny the Scorsese's King of Comedy & even, arguably, in Taxi Driver, Robert Deniro is not a natural comedian. His humor seems gratuitously cruel & cynical here, especially at the wedding & the retirement home, partly due to the gross teenage humor level of the material but also in large part to Deniro's wholly unsympathetic performance. It would have worked had the film's creators been able to resurrect Rodney Dangerfield for the role. In fact the whole movie seemed to be based on Dangerfield's career, although he was never as cruel nor as much of a loser as Jackie.

Also in the trivia notes it says that Deniro tried to get this film made for 8 years. One wonders if the final result is what he foresaw.

There is not much to say about The Comedian. It's an average movie, okay to watch once but that's about it. It's certainly not the best movie with Robert DeNiro. They should have made it a bit shorter because after a while you get a bit bored. For a comedy the jokes are not the greatest either. There are a couple of funny moments but not enough for such a long movie. The story is very simple, you won't get confused or anything. It's just about an aging comedian that is a bit rude with his jokes and therefor he gets in a bit of trouble. Add on that a little romance with a younger girl and that's about it. It's easy to watch though but to me it's just not funny nor good enough to be remembered.

How can such a great actor become such a joke? Nick Cage didn't even fall this far. The director of this film ought to be hung by his testicles. He can't even form a single interesting scene. he must be the most boring person in the world, and his movie puts his personality on display. This was total garbage, about as bad as a Deniro movie can be.

My first review ever, and it's free form. I can't say enough good things about this movie. It's real, the characters are fleshed out so well, the writing is clever, the acting right on the nose. De Niro is a real "go- getter" as Jackie, potential has been trying to make his way in a changing world. Brutally frank in his humor and unwilling to compromise his take on situations that loom up, it's a fine portrayal and one accompanied by a fine supporting cast. I know he spent years trying to get it made and I hope he doesn't feel disappointed over the box office. It's a real triumph in my eyes, I thoroughly enjoyed it, a film with much substance and humanity. By some of the other reviews I can see not everyone feels the same and it was this that, after all these years of reading reviews on the IMDb finally prompted me to write one of my own. Kudos! I loved it. Thank you for the joy it brought to me.

There is a lot of sadness in Jackie Burke's (Robert De Niro) life and unfortunately, due to the popularity of his iconic TV character Eddie, a Gleasonesque bus driver, seems destined to remain with him forever. But with the help of his long time, media savvy manager, Miller (Edie Falco) and an attractive fellow community service parolee, Harmony (Leslie Mann), Burke fights through this soul crushing wave of nostalgia and unknowingly lands in front of a younger, online audience who come to appreciate his comedic flair. It would be remiss not to acknowledge that De Niro can tell a joke as well as any comic in the business which in this case includes Billy Crystal (as himself), Brett Butler, Cloris Leachman, and Gilbert Gottfried. Harvey Keitel is excellently cast as Harmony's father, Mac Schiltz, since his own cinematic gangster credits are equal to De Niro's fabled, tough guy persona and the "old man" put downs he draws from Burke are full of venom. The two masks of comedy and tragedy may spoil this movie for popcorn- crunchers but they make it an excellent "date" movie and a joy for De Niro fans who have suffered through a lot of phoned in performances in the past.

Greetings again from the darkness. It's often seemed as if Robert DeNiro existed in two unrelated cinematic worlds. He's a 7 time Oscar nominee and 2 time winner (The Godfather: Part II, Raging Bull) renowned for his dramatic work, while also seemingly intent on proving he's a funny as he thinks he is. His work in Analyze This, Analyze That, and the Fockers franchise takes "playing against type" to an extreme. This latest is his return, 35 years after The King of Comedy, to playing a stand-up comedian.

Of course Jackie Burke (DeNiro) is no regular comedian. He's pushing 70 years old, has anger issues, no close friends, a strained relationship with his brother (Danny DeVito) and agent (Edie Falco), and fights his popular legacy as "Eddie" from a decades-ago popular sitcom. He strives to be recognized not as Eddie, but as Jackie Burke, the king of insult comics.

That anger lands him in community service where he meets Harmony (Leslie Mann) who is also serving her time. It's kind of creepy to watch the 30 years older dude hit on her, but it's explained away by her 'daddy issues' with Harvey Keitel. Of course, DeNiro and Keitel have a natural rhythm (that spans 5 decades of working together), but it's really DeNiro and Mann who have the best scenes (outside of the unnecessary romantic interlude). Ms. Mann is especially fun to watch and brings a sense of realism to a film that's mostly lacking.

Taylor Hackford directs a script written by a blend of 4 writers: a Producer of Fight Club, a standup comedian, an Oscar nominee for The Fisher King, and a writer best known for the Kennedy Center Honors. It's a weird mix that explains the periodic flashes of genius and the overall mismatched parts.

There are no shortage of familiar faces that pop up, including Billy Crystal, Lois Smith, Jimmie Walker, Brett Butler, and Gilbert Gottfried. Patti LuPone is enjoyable in her role as DeVito's wife and Jackie Burke-hater. It's nice to see Charles Grodin in a Midnight Run reunion with DeNiro, and Cloris Leachman proves that comedy kills in her brief time on screen.

Although there is a more cutesy humor segment at a retirement center when Burke leads the residents through a make-shift version of "Makin' Poopie" set to the rhythm of "Makin' Whoopie", anyone seeing this should be braced for raunchy humor. Lots of raunchy humor. Jackie Burke is an insult comedian in the vein of Don Rickles, only he adds a dash of Jim Norton and Amy Schumer. With all the uncomfortable laughs, it might best be described as that rare film genre – blue humor for the blue hairs.