The King of Comedy

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Kevin P A great dark comedy by Martin Scorsese with some excellent satire on fame and celebrity culture. Robert DiNiro and Jerry Lewis are both great playing against type. The film still holds up today with its spot-on commentary on fandom culture and people trying to get their moment in the spotlight at any cost (lord knows what Rupert Pupkin would do in the viral era of attention-seekers). The film Has an excellent set design that's vibrant with colors and unique costumes. There are several fantasy sequences that reveal more of Rupert Pupkin's psyche and desires, in that embarrassing wish fulfillment kind that we've all daydreamer about at some point, except he doesn't have the slightest but of self awareness that these are far-fetch delusions. Though I must say, his talk show basement is pretty cool despite the obvious creep factor. The film can be hard to watch at times, but in the best way possible with Rupert Pupkin's complete lack of self awareness at how uncomfortable he makes everyone. And you really feel bad for how frequent celebrities like Jerry get pestered and stalked by fans on an everyday basis. It all leads up to an insane with Rupert Pupkin finally getting his chance at the spotlight in the craziest way possible. I like that Rupert's comedy material is revealed to be decent after all that mayhem. Which makes it even more frustrating that he chose all those dirty short cuts at a cheap shot at grabbing fame though scandal instead of working his way to the top through stand-up. With a great ending that feels open-ended to interpretation. The film has great commentary on celebrity culture and desperate fame-seeking that feels timeless and ahead of its time. You can definitely see all the influences that 2019's Joker took note from. It's a great dark comedy and easily one of Martin Scorsese's most underrated in my book. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/09/25 Full Review Clinton R Dreadful. The constant machine-gun unpunctuated sentences in the artificial Neew Yourk accent obnoxiously spewing from Deniro provides, in short order (1) a headache, and (2) a pledge to remember that every character in the movie is unidimensional: awful. Shame on the talentless cameos. Rated 1/5 Stars •  Rated 1 out of 5 stars 06/17/25 Full Review Audience Member It's alright. Just very boring... Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 06/13/25 Full Review Rami A Although, "The King of Comedy" may be one of Marty Scorsese's weakest films, it still provides great entertainment. This yet, once again, shows how great of an actor Robert De Niro is, and how revolutionary Scorsese's directing is in all of cinema. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/14/25 Full Review Landon J Precursor to Joker! Has a similar vibe, but lacks the thorough uneasiness of it's spiritual successor. Despite often feeling flat, it's a good watch, and De Niro is always great. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 04/14/25 Full Review Petros T Thanks to a clear-cut premise, good pacing and mostly focused execution, it's a really engaging film throughout. Robert De Niro takes some getting used to in this role, but he does a very good job, and so does Jerry Lewis. Arguably, the film suffers a little from the fact that the protagonist is really unlikable and hard to root for, and certain missteps such as the confusing jump to the country house sequence mar the overall impression more, but for the most part it delivers on its promise. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/11/25 Full Review Read all reviews

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