The King of Comedy

It's The Rupert Pupkin Show!
Chances are that if Robert De Niro is in a movie, it's going to be good. (Especially the old classics.) This one is no exception and I can't believe it has taken me this long to finally see this amazing comedy. Finally out on DVD, "The King of Comedy" is a terrific film on all fronts.

Directed by Martin Scorsese, "The King of Comedy" is about a man named Rupert Pupkin (De Niro); a man with dreams of stand-up comedy success and superstardom on his mind. He doesn't spend too much time in the real world; his made-up world is far more enjoyable to him. There is hardly a moment in where he isn't daydreaming some. Rupert knows that the one man who can make his dreams come true is talk-show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis). Unfortunately, Langford wants absolutely nothing to do with Pupkin and sees him only as another star-crazed and psychotic fan. So, Rupert decides to do the next best thing that will guarantee him a spot on Jerry's show; he kidnaps him. Everything else just...

Rupert Pupkin: A Name I Can't Forget!
This strange movie has stayed with me since the first time I saw it almost 20 years ago. In fact, I've never forgotten the name, "Rupert Pupkin," a odd name made famous by Robert De Niro as the leading actor in this unique drama/comedy/ crime film. De Niro was just outstanding, one of his best efforts in an illustrious career.

Jerry Lewis and Sandra Bernhard also were really good here, in supporting roles. Comedians sometimes make great dramatic actors as Lewis has demonstrated in several films. I don't know, frankly, if Bernard has ever done anything remotely as good as this.

Biographies of eccentric people usually are interesting and this one more than fits the bill. This movie was not popular with audiences and a number of critics but I think it was superbly done with laugh-out-loud lines as well as subtle humor and great acting. It is a wonderful character study of obsessed fans of celebrities, a pitiful condition that exists even more today.

If...

DE NIRO/SCORSESE - THE KINGS OF CINEMA
That's what happens when a movie is being made by true masters. De Niro and Scorsese created many films together and it seems everything they lay their hands on turns to gold - whether it's a gangster flick or a comedy. There are practically no jokes in "The King of Comedy" (except the ones De Niro and Jerry Lewis let off during their stand-up acts, but that's a comedy within a comedy) but this film is just killing. It pretends to be very serious but this seriousness is also hilarious. That's a real skill to make a no-nonsense movie everybody will be laughing madly about. To my opinion this is one of the best works of Robert De Niro (I know - he had many, but this one really deserves to be called so), Jerry Lewis - I can't describe how great he is here, and Sandra Bernhard is also outstanding.
"The King of Comedy" is a less known film of Martin Scorsese and I can't find an explanation why. But the fact it's not that known as his other works doesn't diminish its value. Grab this...

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