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The King of Comedy may be one of the lesser known works from the luminous partnership of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, but it is certainly one which should not be disregarded and left to rot in the realm of cinematic misfires. For a filmography which almost screams "Masterpiece!" every couple of years, Scorsese can be forgiven for experimenting in absurd black comedy, mixed with slight elements of horrific undertones after the triumph of Raging Bull (1980), even if the usual standard with his frequent cohort is slightly abandoned. The era of uber celebrities is more pertinent in contemporary society than it ever was in the 1980s, and consequently, Paul D. Zimmerman's script is way ahead of its time. De Niro's Rupert Pupkin lives with his mother (unseen, but voiced by Catherine Scorsese) and is desperate to break into showbiz as a stand-up comedian. This obsessive desire leads Rupert to team up with a psychotic Masha (an outstanding Sandra Bernhard) to kidnap cultural icon Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis), who is a television talk-show host in a similar mould to Carson, Leno and Letterman. The events nicely illustrate the distressed lengths certain people will venture toward in order to capitalize on the booming celebrity phenomenon, in addition to the constant disturbing parody underneath the main narrative which makes for a riveting ride, especially in the predominant National Enquirer and Hello! magazine age of today.
De Niro is in full Travis Bickle mode here, saturated in consistent dashes of lunacy, stalkerish behaviour and madness. His reactionary facial movements to his mother's screaming whilst recording a tape to impress Jerry are hilarious and let us look deeper into his fanatical world. Masha is much the same and Bernhard's knack of making her character seem constantly stoned both in appearance and speech is a sight to behold. However, unlike Rupert, she fails to possess enough motivation to conquer the office policy of Jerry's network until the thrilling finale. Rupert is the one who keeps popping over to Jerry's office in continually funny and yet shocking episodes, and this persistence is purposefully frightening. Jerry Lewis does a stellar job and even threatens to eclipse De Niro's greatness on occasions. One feels sorry for the position Langford has found himself in but you also have an intrinsic suspicion that regardless of how eccentric the abduction duo are, you never feel as if they will physically harm their hero. As Pupkin plainly states, all he wants is to be "hero for a night" rather than "schmuck for a lifetime."
The extras
Scorsese and Bernhard contribute nicely to the nineteen minute "Making Of". The latter interestingly states how Lewis wanted to throw her through a glass table in one of the final scenes when she is just dressed in her underwear! A decent stills gallery, theatrical trailer, Canadian television spot and two deleted scenes round off the package.
The summary
Scorsese's mostly underrated effort is full of intelligent and twisted humour which says so much about contemporary celebrity-crazed society. Culturally relevant.
