Grade:  B

Director:  Martin Scorsese		Released:  February 1983
Writer:  Paul D. Zimmermann		MPAA Rating:  PG
Players:  Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Sandra Bernhard		Running time:  109 minutes

Ratings System

This film seems to get categorized as a comedy, or dark comedy.  In my book, it's not.  It's an urban drama with comedic elements, definitely not a comedy.  I guess some folks find kidnappings, illegal entry, and delusional behavior funny.  De Niro's character is named Rupert Pupkin (a name difficult to forget after seeing this), he's a tragic creation.  He's horrifying in his realism.  I'll bet you know a person or two who thinks and acts like Rupert.  It goes without saying that De Niro is a genius performer, he creates yet another memorable character.

The big surprise in this film for me is Sandra Bernhard.  Typically I find her annoying as hell, and I've never seen her in something that showed she had talent.  Frankly, I wondered how she became a celebrity because I'd never seen her do anything worthwhile except hang around with Madonna.  Anyway, she's great in her role here.  She's raw and energetic, and she's perfect playing the obsessed fan.

Before watching The King of Comedy, I had not heard much about it, but thought "It's Scorsese, it must be worth watching".  And it is.  The running time is about 1 hour, 40 minutes, so it's a quick hit to watch for a little entertainment.

- crocoPuffs