DVD

DVD REVIEW: The King of Comedy (1982)

I had high hopes for this DVD as I loaded it into the machine. I'd popped the popcorn and taken the phone off the hook. I was expecting for 90 minutes of non-stop hilarity. After all, it's not every day you have an audience with The 'King' of Comedy. How disappointed I was to be!

Jerry Lewis plays himself as the host of a television late show in this 'classic' film by Martin Scorcese. Some of his jokes are all right, but I could watch David Letterman tell jokes of similar quality for free on television without shelling out $2.99 for DVD rental.


It seems when the 'King' is not on actually on television he's not so funny after all. In fact he looks tired much of the time and is quite rude to some of his loyal fans. As a long time fan myself I found this disappointing. Instead of laughs we get a mishmash of tedious behind-the-scenes business dealings. These were about as funny as The Larry Sanders Show, which of course you can watch for free.

Then there were the other, unfunnier scenes in this so-called laff fest. Such as a kidnapping. Funny? Swearing. Funny? Cracks about cancer. Funny? I think not! I was hoping Jerry would pull some faces or act retarded, but oh, no.

This is possibly the least funny of all Jerry's comedies. I was particularly disappointed because it is called The King of Comedy. But the 'King' seems to have lost his crown. -- MARGARET N. BATES