Penetrating Rivers' coarse image, this compelling documentary offers an honest, behind-the-scenes look at her career -- and at show business in general.
Penetrating Rivers' coarse image, this compelling documentary offers an honest, behind-the-scenes look at her career -- and at show business in general.
Joan Rivers launched her career as a standup comic in the early '60s, a time when female comedians were few and far between, and after several years of working nightclubs to unresponsive audiences, she was booked on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1965 and soon became one of the most successful comedy acts in the nation. Since then, Rivers has hosted several TV talk shows, written best-selling books, directed a feature film, launched a line of jewelry, and kept up a busy schedule of
personal appearances, determined to hold on to her stardom regardless of the fickle winds of show business. Filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg followed Rivers through a typically eventful year in her life, and in Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, they offer a look at the woman behind the laughter as she struggles to stay in the spotlight, works on new material, launches a one-woman show in the United Kingdom that doesn't fare as well as she hopes, takes a chance as a participant on a reality TV show, and ponders her career in show business at the age of 75. Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work received its world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The new documentary on Joan Rivers is so in your face, so fraught with harrowing, oversized personal stuff, you might want to get a theatre seat a couple of rows behind where you normally sit, to safely take it all in.
Rivers' story is an inspiration, regardless of your background. If there is anyone who is aspiring to be in the entertainment industry, this is the doc to watch. Joan Rivers' life is the blueprint for any artist, comedienne, or actor.
[A] sad, startling exploration of the vagaries of fame, the insecurities of celebrity, and the realities behind the typical 'but it's just a joke' excuses that prop up cheap, vulgar humor.
If you want an insight into human nature, stand up comedy and stand up comedians are a great looking glass, as long as you're prepared for all that pain. All great comedy is cruel, and Joan Rivers does cruel really well
I laughed, I cried and I was inspired. Delivering far more than you expect, this knock-out doco spits out the essence of Joan Rivers, who admits she is only truly happy when she's on stage
...you may not come away from Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg's (blisteringly funny) chronicle of a year in the life of the comedian ... liking Joan Rivers, much less understanding her, but by gosh this movie is going to force you to respect her.
The audience will feel like a fly on the wall in a no-holds-barred approach in which no topic is off limits. The filmmakers condensed more than a year of footage into 84 fascinating minutes...
Joan Rivers the comedian can be an acquired taste. It gets old hearing her asking celebrities on the red carpet "Who are you wearing?" Joan Rivers the human being, however, is a fascinating person to follow.
I don't know that much about Joan Rivers, I know she's a comedian, I know she's had lots of plastic surgery and I know her humour. I didn't really learn anything from this film, other than her raging ego does take a 5 minute break once and a while but not very often. At times I felt sorry for her, she probably doesn't
get the recognition she deserves but for all the times she has to defend her risky jokes, she comes across as pretty naive and resorts to being the victim and her tiring ego fuelled defence mechanism kicks in, and this is what people think of when they think of her. More CV/resume than fly on the wall documentary, she doesn't even seem to shy away from this fact either, she needs the work. I was never bored but it was only just a little more than mildly interesting, for the record though, I quite like her.
Wow, just wow. This movie is probably one of the most incisive, honest, painful, melancholic, roller coaster portraits of Hollywood and the woman chugging in its cogs that I've ever seen. That scene where she's taking off her makeup and the camera just focuses on her creasy, plasticized eyes gradually sagging, sagging,
sagging - the light goes down and it is just magic.
No quotes approved yet for Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
