Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

Cool....

I'm going to lend the DVD to my parents, I think they'll like it too. I think the negative criticism the film gets is from people who were expecting an action thriller...and if you've seen Meek's Cutoff you'll know the pacing in a Kelly Reichhardt movie is subdued.

I haven't seen Meek's Cutoff but I have see Wendy and Lucy. I liked it but that was about it.

I was really 'so-so' about Night Moves myself, not sure Camo's forgived me yet

The pacing is like Wendy and Lucy too. I really like Night Moves, there was one plot development towards the very end, that I thought seemed out place and maybe done for a larger market appeal. You'll know what I mean when you watch it.

Have you seen any of Kelly Reichardt's other films? I'm working on watching everything she's done, almost there. I have River of Grass (1994) to watch next of hers.

I've not, I wouldn't be averse to trying more should I run across them though. Below were my thoughts on Night Moves which I've spoiler-tagged for crick's sake even though he would've seen them already in my 2016 log...

Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Paul D. Zimmerman
Cast: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, Sandra Bernhard
Genre: Dark Comedy, Drama

Rupert Pupkin is delusional and lives in a fantasy world where he dreams of becoming a top comedian. His idol is the host of the nightly talk show, Jerry Langford Show. Rupert stalks Jerry Langford and seizes an opportunity to jump into his limousine where he then monopolizes the conversation telling Jerry about his comedy routine, and Jerry reluctantly agrees to listen to his comedy tapes, just to get rid of Rupert. The comedy tapes are not that good, and are rejected, but Rupert will NOT take no for an answer.

1982's The King of Comedy was a box office flop, but what do movie goers know? This satirical black comedy by master director Martin Scorsese is like no other film ever made. It effortlessly blends the fantasy world or Rupert with the real world that he lives in. It's hard to tell where the fantasy ends and reality starts...and that's the way Scorsese planned it...we're seeing through Rupert's eyes and what a world he sees!


The subject matter is dark and the Jerry Langford show looks a whole lot like the The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, right down to using the real Executive Producer Fred De Cordova, as the fictional Director Bert Thomas. This adds a lot of reality, too much for some folks due to the dark nature of the film.

Martin Scorsese later said, "he probably should not have made it."

DeNiro is amazing in this! And so is Jerry Lewis who turns in a subdued and very realistic portal of a powerful TV talk show host being stalked by a deranged fan, two actually.

Good stuff!

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I have such a sigh of relief that you've finally seen this!
There's not much I can say that you didn't already say in your review, but I love to discuss this film. I was always left with such a strange range of emotions after viewing it.

One interesting thing that always struck me was Jerry Lewis admitting he just played himself. Which was kind of a self-deprecating acknowledgement of some of his less-than good points. (Also interesting - on IMDB trivia - the list of actors considered to play Langford: Johnny Carson was one of them!)

Wow! the movie was a total surprise to me, I had no idea at all what it was about. I didn't image it was like watching a deranged person gain access to Johnny Carson and get himself unto the Tonight Show. I mean the backstage stuff looked so much like the Tonight Show, and Jerry Lewis made the perfect celebrity comic host.

I can't think of any other movie that felt so real, and I think Jerry Lewis playing himself made it all the more so. I really have to see this again, because I think it's a film that the more one watches the more one sees.

What did you think of it?

Well, it's on my list of all time top underrated films (not that I have a list, but you know what I mean). It's funny yet it's sad, it's realistic yet it's bizarre, it's a total quirk-fest.

It's one of Scorsese's best and the amazing thing is it was a box office flop (I think the fact that it wasn't popular ads to its charm, making it somewhat of a cult movie).

I say this film borders on the edge of brilliance. It really showed that Jerry had dramatic chops (then again, as he said, he just had to show up and be himself).

My favorite scene has to be when Rupert shows up with his girlfriend at Jerry's house and Jerry is called in off the golf course. I read that much of that scene was improvised. It's so filled with tension. Like the rest of the movie, it's kind of funny... yet it's not.

I think this film had such an impact on me because I grew up watching Jerry Lewis comedies, and this was such an unexpected departure.

If you view Taxi Driver, let me know if you see what I mean about these two movies being "bookends." A lot of fans would disagree since they are completely different movies with different feels, yet they do have some similar underlying themes.

Yup, totally underrated, in fact I don't understand why it's not really well known. Besides us movie fans that is.

I got to ask you, what did you find sad about it? I might be able to guess, but I might guess wrong. I didn't feel it was sad when I watched it, but now that I think of it, it is sad in one way. I wonder if we're thinking the same thing?

Do I dare ask what kind of impact it had on you? I'm curious.

I will be watching Taxi Driver, one of these days. And of course I will review.

P.S.

Just had to post this photo (because I love it)!
I don't remember if it ever actually appeared in the movie or if it's an outtake, but if it did appear, it had to be in one of Rupert's fantasies.

That was in the movie, it was one of Rupert's fantasy day dream visions.

What's sad is Rupert's whole story and character - it doesn't end up that way, but he's a very lonely, pitiful individual who's constantly trying to hide how sad his life is. Rupert is a phony, he's not really genuine with people, he spends most his time trying to cover up how pitiful his life really is. But his sad existence and confining himself to spending his private hours in a fantasy world makes him sympathetic to the audience. One thing I will say he excels at is the principle of "fake it till you make it."

We could almost say Rupert comes close to being mentally ill.

We've all met people kind of like Rupert (and on the surface they're quirky, but if we think about them we feel sad for them), and some of us are a little like Rupert ourselves (I spent most of my childhood and teen years living in a fantasy world - but Rupert is sad because he's still doing it as an adult).

We could view Rupert's story as inspiring, he has the qualities of tenacity and a positive attitude that borders on unrealistic, but let's face it, he gets lucky. He goes about trying to achieve fame the wrong way and ends up lucking out. So, actually his story isn't that inspiring as most of us aren't willing to turn to crime to get ahead.

The impact it had on me - as I said before, watching it always left me with a range of emotions - from hilarity to sadness (as stated above). Despite it's title it's not a comedy (and yet, in some ways it is). I wonder if that has something do to with why it failed at the box office - with a title like "King of Comedy" co-starring Jerry Lewis and Robert DeNiro... maybe it just wasn't what people were expecting.

@Captain Steel

That's well said, what you wrote about Rupert and people like him. I agree too. But you know what? During the movie I never felt sad for him, or any empathy, other than I felt embarrassed for him when he wouldn't leave the studio reception room, especially when they were going to listen to his tape and it seemed he was hurting his chances by refusing to leave.

I felt sad for Jerry Lewis, but no, not because he was kidnapped, but before that. He's powerful, popular, famous and when he comes out of his show and onto the street he's mobbed...it's like he's a bee trapped in a small jar. He seemed downtrodden and sad to me. I was thinking who would ever want to have his life? Rupert I guess!

What did you think of Sandra Bernhard? I didn't like her. She seemed to be doing a comedy bit, when everyone else in the movie seemed very real. It's not that she was bad at what she did, but her tone didn't match the rest of the film.

Yeah, I was going to get to Jerry being sad as well.

And on two points: his character in the movie AND the fact that he wasn't playing a character but was translating his life and personality into the film. In other words, it's sad that such a wonderful man whose creative genius and charity gave so much to the world was such a prick.

I'd agree about Bernhard too. I remember liking her stand up routine (years before this movie). Her career never really took off (I wonder if part of that was because this movie flopped)? I can't say I remember her too much in this (which should tell you something) just that she seemed nuttier than Rupert.

I remember Sandra Bernhard being on Late Night with David Letterman. She was kind of funny, in an obnoxious way, just like the character in the movie. I always got the idea that Dave wished he had invited Terri Garr on the show instead

LOL! Yeah, I remember that too. I watched a lot of Dave in college! (80's)

I watched a lot of Dave in my parent's garage.

Loved your review of this movie Citizen and agree with just about everything you've said here. It is my favorite Scorsese film and my favorite De Niro Performance

I liked Hidden Figures, I wrote a review on it too...it was good, though I'm not sure it deserved a Best Picture nomination.