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| Robert De Niro stars in The Comedian |
Burke on the (Cutting) Block
Rotten Tomatoes Plot: An aging comic icon, Jackie (Robert De Niro) has seen better days. Despite his efforts to reinvent himself and his comic genius, the audience only wants to know him as the former television character he once played. Already a strain on his younger brother (Danny DeVito) and his wife (Patti LuPone), Jackie is forced to serve out a sentence doing community service for accosting an audience member. While there, he meets Harmony (Leslie Mann), the daughter of a sleazy Florida real estate mogul (Harvey Keitel), and the two find inspiration in one another resulting in surprising consequences.
De Niro ask's "Can I address the 800 pound gorilla in the room?" Sorry Bob, but it might be you. How else do you explain this obvious vanity project, where the 73-year-old, two-time Oscar winner beds a woman, 30 years his junior, while spewing lame comedic lines like "incest is even worse than being gay?" Sadder still, he drags numerous (way) over-the-hill pals along for the ride. "Being funny's not enough anymore," but I don't remember laughing until the very end. Perhaps it's time for Bobby D to hang up the mike, and stick to what he does best... acting.
Grade: D
