A Piece of Work is one of the more aptly named docs I've ever seen, as Joan Rivers seems completely nuts. A less harsh way of saying that would be that she's a very complicated and very neurotic person with a lot of conflicting motives. She personifies the word 'fascinating'- I didn't always agree with her, sometimes I outright disliked her, but I was always interested in seeing what she did next.
The film follows her through a year of her career as she struggles to regain some of her status during a current self described slow period. She has no problems admitting she isn't as famous or as well-liked as she once was, but in the same breath will guarantee the audience she will hit her peak again and rise right back to her former glory. It's this strange duality of upfront realism and then surprising optimism that confounds me; how can she really expect to 'hit it big' again? How many comebacks does she really have left in her?
I spent equal time admiring her and disliking her, which is rare for a bio like this- typically it's either a puff piece or it's a smear job, this one seemed to find a middle ground. I loved her work ethic and her brutal honesty about how the world sees her. But I was turned off by her vanity, her pettiness towards other comics and showbiz people, and her translucent need to be liked, or at least talked about.
The film is an interesting look at the comedy business, specifically the kind of inherent personal flaws that seem to be mandatory for anyone who wants to succeed in it. It'd make a good complement to the Ricky Gervais' show Extras: both explore the struggle to win critical respect and mass audience approval at the same time. Rivers can't seem to decide if she what she wants more: lots of money, lots of good reviews, or lots of people waiting in line for autographs. She complains about wanting each of them at one point or another, but once she gets them they fail to bring her the happiness she expected.
Plus, on top of all of this, the woman's 75 years old. Never would I have guessed she was that freaking old. Is it inspiring that someone can be in the business for that long and still work so hard, or is it sad, that after 40+ years she still doesn't feel happy enough with her work (or herself) to slow down?
A couple of observations:
-The film presents her as a pretty shitty mom. The few scenes with her daughter are thinly veiled arguments where Joan berates her fully grown daughter, from not getting her hair done fast enough to questioning why she's in show business.
-She's obsessed with money. She seems to take any and every job that comes her way, regardless of what it's for. The way she acts you'd think she had blown all her earnings. But then they show us her home and the way in which she lives and you get the impression she lives like the Queen of England. I think she can live anyway she wants with her own money, but I don't get why acts so hard up for cash all the time.
-She made it a special point to note that every year she delivers food to the needy on Thanksgiving. But she did it with a full camera crew while wearing a fur coat and designer sunglasses.
-A few moments of her pure Machiavellian business-mindset seep through the film- she repeatedly describes her manager Billy as her best friend and closest confidante who has been with her since the start. But, when things get bad halfway in the film, she makes the decision to drop him (via an email no less). Similarly she was a regular on the Carson show and became good friends with him, until she was offered her own show on Fox. Carson felt so betrayed he never spoke to her again, and Rivers somehow feels the victim.
This doesn't sound like a very glowing review, but I will point out these are thoughts on her, not the film itself. The very fact the film kept these scenes and showed them makes it a good film.
Here is my favorite scene- Joan shows her collection of alphabetized jokes. I'm blown away. This is borderline OCD/hoarders right here:
At the end of the film, I was left confused: am I supposed to respect her? Pity her? Hate her? All of them? The film wasn't telling me, it was going to let the viewer decide. I'm surprised at how much I have to say about this film. That means it was worth my time.
Here's the trailer:
Unlike "Trust Us This is All Made Up", this CAN be viewed on Netflix.
No comments:
Post a Comment