The King of Comedy (1983)

Scorsese and Deniro . . . it has to be good. That's what I figured when i rented this movie, having seen 9 other Scorsese movies, 5 of which starred Deniro.

I was right.

Now, people that know me are going to say that I'm saying that because I am obsessed with both Deniro and Scorsese, but really, The King of Comedy is quite good. Anna watched it with me and she liked it. Hasothere. Justification.

Now let me tell you why. The King of Comedy is unlike any movie I've ever seen. It certainly contains aspects of a Scorsese film- struggles with self esteem and ego by a masculine figure, crime, and dark humor- but its subject matter and plot development are very different.

The King of Comedy deals with "celebrity." Jerry Lewis plays legendary talk show comedian Jerry Langford, the celebrity. Sandra Bullock plays crazy female kidnapper Masha, who wants to be with the celebrity. And Deniro plays Rupert Pupkin, an absurd untalented and desperate aspiring comedian, who wants to be the celebrity. These three characters basically show how absurd America's obsession with celebrities is. It's so absurd, yet completely possible, making this film pretty scary when you think about it. Scorsese wondered "is Rupert Pupkin more violent than Travis Bickel? He may be."

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Spoiler warning....seriously don't read this unless you've seen all the major scorsese movies.

Many of Scorsese's movies have a tragic ending, with a major downfall of the main character at the end. Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull goes from being a successful boxer to a fat, cheesy, family-less lounge comedian who gets arrested for serving alcohol to minors. Mean Streets ends with Charlie being violently gun downed in his car, his fate left unknown. Billy, much to my dismay, takes a bullet through the brain in The Departed. There are other examples, but i don't want to ruin too many movies for stupid people who ignored the spoiler warning.

Anyway, The King of Comedy is not personally tragic. Rupert gets arrested for kidnapping Jerry, but his actions made him a major celebrity. He gets everything he wanted. He is loved by America. Rupert's success is a further criticism of America's obsession with celebrities. The tragedy is that America would like this sicko, because he isnt even funny.

End spoilers.
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The King of Comedy is original, hilarious, and scary all at the same time. I'd say it is probably Scorsese's most overlooked work and would recommend it to anyone who likes Scorsese's style for what it really is- not just gangs and violence, but startling character studies and interesting depictions of America.

Rating: 9 stars out of 10.