{"id":44436,"date":"2019-08-10T21:55:22","date_gmt":"2019-08-11T04:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=44436"},"modified":"2021-06-05T13:48:26","modified_gmt":"2021-06-05T20:48:26","slug":"lenny-1974","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=44436","title":{"rendered":"Lenny (1974)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;The point &#8212; the point is the suppression of words. Now, dig.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Poster-194x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-57673\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Poster-194x300.png 194w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Poster-662x1024.png 662w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Poster-83x128.png 83w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Poster-175x270.png 175w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Poster.png 717w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nThe life of controversial comic Lenny Bruce (Dustin Hoffman) is told in flashback by his ex-wife (Valerie Perrine), mother (Jan Miner), and agent (Stanley Beck).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Biopics<\/li>\n<li>Bob Fosse Films<\/li>\n<li>Dustin Hoffman Films<\/li>\n<li>Flashback Films<\/li>\n<li>Marital Problems<\/li>\n<li>Morality Police<\/li>\n<li>Stand-Up Comedy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary writes that director &#8220;Bob Fosse&#8217;s seamy, sex-laced biography of controversial comic Lenny Bruce&#8230; centers on his difficult marriage to stripper <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fold3.com\/page\/45409194-honey-b-friedman\/stories\">Honey Harlowe<\/a> (played with vulnerability by Valerie Perrine) and his troubles with policemen and judges for using supposedly obscene material in his nightclub act.&#8221; He notes that &#8220;Hoffman is very convincing in the title role, displaying Bruce&#8217;s quick mind, his obsessive nature&#8230;, and, ultimately, his utter helplessness and despair when he realizes he&#8217;ll never be able to express himself openly in his profession.&#8221; Peary argues that while Hoffman &#8220;is magnificent in those scenes where Bruce tries to talk sense to conservative judges&#8221;, becoming &#8220;like Don Quixote fighting windmills&#8221;, the &#8220;film fails because of Fosse&#8217;s self-conscious direction and because Julian Barry&#8217;s script, adapted from Barry&#8217;s play, forgets to include moments in which Bruce shows he has a real sense of humor.&#8221; He writes that while &#8220;one can understand Bruce&#8217;s seriousness in his later years&#8221;, &#8220;except for a scene with his relatives, he&#8217;s not funny in his early years &#8212; even on stage.&#8221; Peary asserts that the &#8220;film could use some laughter because it&#8217;s deadly long at 112 [minutes] and very depressing&#8221;, adding that &#8220;this would make an appropriate second feature to <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=72095\"><em>Raging Bull<\/em><\/a>&#8220;. <\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not quite in agreement with all of Peary&#8217;s points. While the film is indeed depressing, I don&#8217;t find it overlong, and wasn&#8217;t particularly struck by a dearth of funny routines. Bruce&#8217;s audience laughs plenty when they&#8217;re shocked by the language he uses, and that&#8217;s the primary focus of the film: Bruce&#8217;s controversial (!) belief that he should be allowed to use everyday profanity in his comedy. In fact, there&#8217;s ample humor as Bruce good-naturedly (albeit very pointedly) does his routine while cops line the walls, substituting &#8220;blah blah&#8221; for the actual swear words while still being completely understood by his audience; his point is extremely well taken. What I&#8217;m most disturbed by is Bruce&#8217;s treatment of Perrine, who&#8217;s simultaneously adored and demonized for her sexuality (what else is new?). With that said, Barry&#8217;s screenplay neatly shows how Bruce&#8217;s rightful indignation ultimately consumed his life; it&#8217;s sad seeing his obsession with his court cases taking over his routines (and, of course, seeing his drug-induced ramble in a final performance). There may have been many complicated reasons leading to Bruce&#8217;s premature death by overdose, but at least here we&#8217;re clearly shown how the mutually reinforcing demons of addiction and hopelessness played pivotal roles.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dustin Hoffman as Lenny Bruce<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Hoffman.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Hoffman-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-44439\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Hoffman-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Hoffman-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Hoffman-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Hoffman-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Hoffman.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Valerie Perrine as Honey<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Perrine.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Perrine-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-44441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Perrine-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Perrine-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Perrine-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Perrine-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Perrine.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Jan Miner as Lenny&#8217;s mom<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Miner.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Miner-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-44440\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Miner-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Miner-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Miner-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Miner-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Miner.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Bruce Surtees&#8217; cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Cinematography-1024x555.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"347\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-44438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Cinematography-1024x555.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Cinematography-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Cinematography-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Cinematography-768x416.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Lenny-Cinematography.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a powerful biopic. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<li>Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0071746\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/lenny\/review\/104110\/\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1974\/11\/11\/archives\/lenny-with-dustin-hoffman-is-one-fourth-brilliant.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;The point &#8212; the point is the suppression of words. Now, dig.&#8221; Synopsis: The life of controversial comic Lenny Bruce (Dustin Hoffman) is told in flashback by his ex-wife (Valerie Perrine), mother (Jan Miner), and agent (Stanley Beck). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Biopics Bob Fosse Films Dustin Hoffman Films Flashback Films Marital Problems Morality Police Stand-Up Comedy Response to Peary\u2019s Review: Peary writes that director &#8220;Bob Fosse&#8217;s seamy, sex-laced biography of controversial comic Lenny Bruce&#8230; centers on his difficult&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=44436\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44436"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72512,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44436\/revisions\/72512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}