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Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story, 2009
This documentary follows stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard as she navigates a challenging year of trying to write and launch a new show.
While there are some interesting behind-the-scenes moments and reflections here, the film as a whole feels very middle of the road.
When I was in high school, I walked into the video store one day and there was a stand-up special playing on the store’s television. I watched a few moments, then asked the clerk what it was. He stopped the DVD and let me rent it and take it home. In the year or so following, I watched a ton of Izzard’s stand-up. I loved the trend of jokes about history and pop culture, and my siblings and I adored the number of quotable lines. I was excited to learn more about Izzard’s life and creative process, but this movie ultimately ends up feeling very superficial.
I really love people who are different, but you can tell that they are genuinely just being themselves. At the time I was watching Izzard, she was still identifying as male, but also playing with gender in terms of clothing. In one show about the cultural dynamics around clothing, Izzard says, “Women wear what they want, and so do I.” It’s a simple statement, but one that really stuck with me in terms of thinking about the “rules” in society and which ones are worth adhering to and which ones seem to exist just because.
There’s really something to be said for the way that Izzard took the risk of being visibly non-gender conforming in the late-90s/early-2000s. While the documentary touches on this a bit, it’s not really a focal point of the film. Instead, it gives us the background of Izzard’s childhood---one especially marred by the loss of her mother--and a present-day look at creating a new show and weathering accusations of too much reuse of material.
I did enjoy learning about Izzard’s path to stand-up fame, including deviations into public escape artist acts. It really does show how making it is some combination of luck and really hard work. The idea of pursuing such a risky profession is hard for someone like me who needs a lot more certainty.
Unfortunately, while the film does get across the incredible amount of work that Izzard put in and the emotional intensity of trying to create new material on a deadline, there’s a lack of depth or creativity to the way that it’s put together that somewhat dulls an interesting story. It’s like the film version of a book report. Sarah Townsend, who dated Izzard for a short time, clearly has affection for her subject, but this ultimately means that some harder questions are not asked.
Eddie Izzard clearly has a unique brain. She’s gone through a very long journey regarding her gender identity; she once ran 43 marathons in 51 days(!!!!!!!); she’s done good dramatic work (I’m especially a fan of her turn in the Hannibal television series). I saw Izzard live once, in Boston, and she was excellent. This is a very interesting human being, and the film just doesn’t dig into how that all interconnects.
Some okay insights here, but I hope one day Izzard gets a documentary that lives up to all the interesting facets of her life.
Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story, 2009
This documentary follows stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard as she navigates a challenging year of trying to write and launch a new show.
While there are some interesting behind-the-scenes moments and reflections here, the film as a whole feels very middle of the road.
When I was in high school, I walked into the video store one day and there was a stand-up special playing on the store’s television. I watched a few moments, then asked the clerk what it was. He stopped the DVD and let me rent it and take it home. In the year or so following, I watched a ton of Izzard’s stand-up. I loved the trend of jokes about history and pop culture, and my siblings and I adored the number of quotable lines. I was excited to learn more about Izzard’s life and creative process, but this movie ultimately ends up feeling very superficial.
I really love people who are different, but you can tell that they are genuinely just being themselves. At the time I was watching Izzard, she was still identifying as male, but also playing with gender in terms of clothing. In one show about the cultural dynamics around clothing, Izzard says, “Women wear what they want, and so do I.” It’s a simple statement, but one that really stuck with me in terms of thinking about the “rules” in society and which ones are worth adhering to and which ones seem to exist just because.
There’s really something to be said for the way that Izzard took the risk of being visibly non-gender conforming in the late-90s/early-2000s. While the documentary touches on this a bit, it’s not really a focal point of the film. Instead, it gives us the background of Izzard’s childhood---one especially marred by the loss of her mother--and a present-day look at creating a new show and weathering accusations of too much reuse of material.
I did enjoy learning about Izzard’s path to stand-up fame, including deviations into public escape artist acts. It really does show how making it is some combination of luck and really hard work. The idea of pursuing such a risky profession is hard for someone like me who needs a lot more certainty.
Unfortunately, while the film does get across the incredible amount of work that Izzard put in and the emotional intensity of trying to create new material on a deadline, there’s a lack of depth or creativity to the way that it’s put together that somewhat dulls an interesting story. It’s like the film version of a book report. Sarah Townsend, who dated Izzard for a short time, clearly has affection for her subject, but this ultimately means that some harder questions are not asked.
Eddie Izzard clearly has a unique brain. She’s gone through a very long journey regarding her gender identity; she once ran 43 marathons in 51 days(!!!!!!!); she’s done good dramatic work (I’m especially a fan of her turn in the Hannibal television series). I saw Izzard live once, in Boston, and she was excellent. This is a very interesting human being, and the film just doesn’t dig into how that all interconnects.
Some okay insights here, but I hope one day Izzard gets a documentary that lives up to all the interesting facets of her life.