Lenny

R

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1h 52m

Biography

List

87%

31 Reviews

Tomatometer

88%

5,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Controversial comedian Lenny Bruce (Dustin Hoffman) begins his career telling bad jokes to bored audiences in the 1950s, but can't repress his desire to unleash edgier material. When he does, he begins a one-man campaign to break down social hypocrisy, and his groundbreaking stage act propels him to cult-hero status. When authorities ban Lenny's act for obscenity, he begins a downward spiral of drugs, sex and debt, aided by his bombshell wife, a stripper named Honey (Valerie Perrine).

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Critics Consensus

Dustin Hoffman inhabits Lenny Bruce with nervy energy in Bob Fosse's richly stylized telling of the pioneering comedian's career and downfall.

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Irene M

Dustin Hoffman does a good job portraying the character, especially the finger snapping. I hated the very very last scene. I started thinking alot about George Carlin, after it was over.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/29/23

Full Review

Georgan G

This movie is a reminder that words are cultural, never "bad" or "obscene." It's been too long for most reading this to remember Lenny Bruce, but he was the 1st to use comedy for social change.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Shioka O

I somehow felt that this is a lengthy when I was watching. Anyways cinematography is amazing, well crafted and just beautiful.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

09/18/22

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Mike J

Sonic is a movie movie theater with Netflix theaters in the king theaters and sonic theater

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/28/22

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Audience Member

For the first episode of my podcast, my co-host and I pay homage to Lenny Bruce for being the bedrock of modern comedy and a free-speech crusader. I had never viewed Lenny before and was expecting a typical biopic concerning the comedian — childhood, struggle, rise, fall, etc. But that's not how the film plays out. Instead, Lenny is shot in a fragmented, arthouse feel with a style that mixes scenes of his life with interviews from friends and loved ones after his untimely death. Dustin Hoffman plays our titular character, and I probably couldn't think of a more perfect casting. Ultimately, this is the real-life story of the legal system destroying a man (for telling jokes) even when he technically wins in court. Unfortunately, it is not the legal system that destroys artists like Lenny these days, but fellow Americans. Ironically, he wasn't arrested for going on cringey — even at the time — tirades about n*gger, spic, wop, mick, etc., (not to be blatantly offensive, but to prove a point concerning giving power to words) but for saying the word "cocksucker". Moreover, Lenny wasn't arrested in Middle America or the Deep South, but in supposed bastions of freedom like San Francisco, Chicago, and New York City. Hoffman does a mesmerizing job of Lenny's transformation from charismatic comic to legal obsessive, literally reading Supreme Court opinions on stage. As Eddie Izzard says, Lenny Bruce was the "Jesus Christ of Comedy…he died for us… for freedom of speech." For this reason alone, he demands to be studied and his legacy protected. While not everyone loved Lenny (Roger Ebert for one), I think that the average viewer would enjoy this film and it should be required watching for anyone who calls themselves an "artist" or is in "entertainment". Legend. Icon. Groundbreaker. In typical Lenny Bruce fashion, he held a mirror up to society and changed it for the better, and had to perish to do it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

"F**k you very much!" You should know Lenny Bruce who, ahead of his time, had the guts to overcome the taboos of words. If the president would introduce all the "negros" of his cabinet, your son wouldn't come home crying because he has been called a negro at school. The meaning behind the words can change if we talk about it, if we laugh about it, that's a role humor can have.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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Bob Fosse

Director

Dustin Hoffman

Lenny Bruce

Valerie Perrine

Honey Bruce

Jan Miner

Sally Marr

Stanley Beck

Artie Silver

Gary Morton

Sherman Hart

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Lenny: Official Clip - Deny It

2:11

Lenny: Official Clip - We're All the Same Schmuck

1:51

Lenny: Official Clip - Contempt of Court

2:11

Lenny: Official Clip - To Come

2:00

Lenny: Official Clip - Strung Out

1:57

Lenny: Official Clip - Arrested for Obscenity

1:59

Lenny: Official Clip - Stag Movies

2:05

Lenny: Official Clip - Doing It

1:43

Lenny: Official Clip - Lenny's Cruel Joke

2:12

Lenny: Official Clip - Dirty But Not Obscene

2:12

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Pauline Kael

New Yorker

In the traditional movie, life is transmuted into art; here the hero's routines are so unfunny that no transmutation seems to have taken place.

Sep 26, 2023

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Dustin Hoffman, good as he is in the title role, is never quite permitted to put together an organic, three-dimensional character.

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 29, 2018

Full Review

Steve Warren

The Barb (Atlanta)

As entertainment Lenny rates pretty high...

May 5, 2023

Full Review

Wayne Harada

Honolulu Advertiser

[It's] a fascinating tapestry of a subculture figure with brilliant hues of his craziness, his restlessness, his wit, his warmth, his charisma. Too, the movie probes Lenny's gutsiness and offers instance after instance of his style and derring-do.

Mar 17, 2023

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

The film...almost does a disservice to one of the most influential stand-up comics of all time simply by taking forever to get going.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 3, 2023

Full Review

Taylor Baker

Drink in the Movies

Episode 39: Ma / The Souvenir / Lenny / Cabaret

Rated: 92/100

Oct 4, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

Controversial comedian Lenny Bruce (Dustin Hoffman) begins his career telling bad jokes to bored audiences in the 1950s, but can't repress his desire to unleash edgier material. When he does, he begins a one-man campaign to break down social hypocrisy, and his groundbreaking stage act propels him to cult-hero status. When authorities ban Lenny's act for obscenity, he begins a downward spiral of drugs, sex and debt, aided by his bombshell wife, a stripper named Honey (Valerie Perrine).

Director: Bob Fosse
Producer: David V. Picker
Screenwriter: Julian Barry, Julian Barry
Distributor: United Artists
Production Co: Marvin Worth Productions [us]
Rating: R
Genre: Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 15, 1975, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 2, 2010
Runtime: 1h 52m

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