It's probably fair to say that if Robert De Niro was a stand up comic, he's be just as acerbic and insulting as Jackie Burke. His most recent outbursts in the media pretty much capture the same character as he portrays here, foul mouth and all. Maybe it's a case of life imitating art, but I don't think so. De Niro even gets in a crack about Donald Trump when he insults the couple in that comedy club scene. This came out in 2016, so he must have hated Trump even before he became President.
I'd be hard pressed to call this a comedy. Some of the situations warrant it but the dialog often goes way beyond the pale. The one thing that I thought was consistently good throughout was anytime Jackie and Harmony Schiltz (Leslie Mann) were on screen together. Their conversation sounded completely natural and unpretentious. I also like the way the picture was peppered with real comedians under their own names, folks like Jimmie Walker, Richard Belzer, Brett Butler and Jim Norton to name a few. It all added to the credibility of a story about a former TV sit-com star trying to break out of that persona to establish his real alter-ego.
Overall though, it's a bit heavy handed, with Jackie's unfiltered quips and observations offending audiences and irritating the people closest to him. Which made me wonder if Billy Crystal might have really meant it coming off the elevator when he remarked - "What a schmuck."
I'd be hard pressed to call this a comedy. Some of the situations warrant it but the dialog often goes way beyond the pale. The one thing that I thought was consistently good throughout was anytime Jackie and Harmony Schiltz (Leslie Mann) were on screen together. Their conversation sounded completely natural and unpretentious. I also like the way the picture was peppered with real comedians under their own names, folks like Jimmie Walker, Richard Belzer, Brett Butler and Jim Norton to name a few. It all added to the credibility of a story about a former TV sit-com star trying to break out of that persona to establish his real alter-ego.
Overall though, it's a bit heavy handed, with Jackie's unfiltered quips and observations offending audiences and irritating the people closest to him. Which made me wonder if Billy Crystal might have really meant it coming off the elevator when he remarked - "What a schmuck."