The King of Comedy: A Review (Review #1845)

THE KING OF COMEDY

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Jerry Lewis.

The pursuit of fame as a substitute for love is nothing new. We today are used to such things as "instant celebrities" who achieved notoriety via TikTok, YouTube or other online systems. People like Shawn Mendes and James Donaldson (better known as MrBeast) parlayed online success into major careers. As a side note, both Mendes and Donaldson are the same age (28 at the time of this writing), so fame via social media may be misunderstood as a Zoomer innovation. However, The King of Comedy shows the underbelly of looking for fulfillment through media. A dark portrait of one lonely man's search for validation, The King of Comedy is a fascinating film.

Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis) rules the late-night airwaves with his eponymous talk show. One night, his rabid fans get more carried away than usual trying to get at him after a show. In comes a man to rescue him from a particularly obsessed fan. This man introduces himself as Rupert Pupkin (Robert DeNiro), who tells Langford that he is a stand-up comedian starting his career. Langford, growing more irritated by the nudnik Pupkin, eventually gets rid of Pupkin by telling him to contact his office to see if they can help him.

Pupkin now becomes more and more detached from what little reality he had been tethered to. He invites a former high school crush, Rita (Diahnne Abbott) on a date where he is simultaneously pleasant and creepy. Pupkin keeps appearing at the Jerry Langford Show studios, forever pushing to either see Jerry or have his comedy tape played for what he knows will be an inevitable booking. Pupkin even shows up unannounced at Langford's country home with Rita, who is completely unaware of Pupkin's divorce from reality.

A visibly enraged but surprisingly measured Langford orders them out of his home and both the home and studio staff is alarmed and frightened by the non-threatening but increasingly irritating and demanding Rupert. Rupert joins forces with Masha (Sandra Bernhard), who is also obsessed with Langford, to abduct the television show host. Rupert orders Jerry to tell his staff about his abduction via cue cards, and that the price for his safe return is the opening slot on the Jerry Langford Show, guest hosted by Tony Randall that night. Masha thinks she will finally have her way with Jerry, while Rupert gets to live out his dream of making his comedy debut. Will Jerry survive this bizarre abduction? Will Rupert get punished or a book deal out of his crime?

I think most people would think of Taxi Driver as the Martin Scorsese-directed, Robert DeNiro acted film about urban isolation, criminal obsession and mental disintegration. I would say that The King of Comedy is its less gruesome twin, cut from the same cloth but without the graphic violence. Rupert Pupkin is not the polar opposite of Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle, but perhaps the more upbeat version of our lonely vigilante. Forever with a grin and an outwardly cheerful demeanor, Pupkin is at the minimum oblivious about how aggressive to irritating he is, at most dismissive. Pupkin is forever convinced of his talent and moreover his inevitable success. 

His fantasies about how, for example, Jerry would ask him as a personal favor to guest host The Jerry Langford Show for six weeks or telling him that he was jealous of Pupkin's comedy show Rupert Pupkin to be deranged. Whether he is genuinely unaware of how he comes across or does not care because of his total belief in his comedic genius we do not know.

Take for example when he goes to Langford's home. Rupert never questions his right to be there, unannounced and uninvited. Rupert is convinced that he will be welcomed. It is not that he is confused over why Langford orders him out. It is his belief that Langford is ungrateful that makes Rupert Pupkin dangerous, separate from the eventual abduction.

The scene where Rupert imagines himself getting married to Rita live on-air is surprisingly tragic. As Victor Borge plays the Wedding March and Dr. Joyce Brothers serving as de facto maid of honor (the two of several cameos), Rupert imagines his high school principal serving as the officiating minister. Here, in this scene more than any other, we see the tragedy of Rupert Pupkin. He is living out his own version of a revenge fantasy. It is not a violent revenge. Instead, it is one where he is justified, where all those who have injured him apologizes, and one where all his dreams come true. He gets fame and the woman of his dreams. It is both sad and disconcerting, seeing Rupert Pupkin live out fantasies to justify his dreams.

What holds your attention is Robert DeNiro's performance. With a permanent, almost innocent grin and outwardly upbeat demeanor, he makes Rupert Pupkin almost a figure of pity. I say almost because there is an anger and darkness beneath the seemingly helpful and naive manner. This comes through in his body language. While there is a smile almost permanently affixed to him, he is forever tightly wound up physically, like a coil that is constantly close to unwinding. 

We see this anger and darkness when he is rebuffed at the Jerry Langford Show studio. That he genuinely does not appear to understand why anyone would not want him around, let alone find him irritating to dangerous is alarming. His fantasies about filling in for Langford in his homemade studio would concern anyone who knew about it. Rupert Pupkin is the original "man-child living in his parents' basement". We hear Pupkin's mother shouting at him about what he is doing or getting to the bus on time. His total divorce from reality is already clear when he uses cue cards, and bungles them, when giving Langford instructions to his alarmed staff.

When the FBI agent in charge tells him, "Well, at this time, Mr. Pupkin, I want to advise you to consider yourself under arrest," Pupkin merely smiles his gleeful grin and replies, "Fine. I think I should get made up". One does not know if Pupkin is actually aware of the gravity of the situation or more focused on being "a king for a night" than on his crimes and putting Langford in danger.

Given his cantankerous reputation, one really is not sure whether Jerry Lewis is playing a character or playing himself as the increasingly irritated and angry Jerry Langford. We do not see him performing any routine. Instead, we see him off-camera, cooly professional but not pleased with the fools he has to endure. In Pupkin's fantasies, however, Lewis convinces you totally that he would see the comedic genius of Rupert Pupkin. His growing anger, however, makes Lewis a model of patience given the lunatics he faces.

Yes, Langford is absolutely right to be angry at how persistent Pupkin is. However, an element of Paul D. Zimmerman's screenplay is why Langford does not have greater security. He already suffers a thoroughly crazed fan in Masha, who literally lunges at him. He endures fickle fans who scream "YOU SHOULD ONLY GET CANCER!" when he apologetically declines talking to a random person on a pay phone. He is supposed to be insanely popular yet has no security detail to protect him. 

Abbott is the weak link in the film. She looks surprisingly blank as Rita, unable to showcase much emotion. As Bernhard is playing an insane person, she is fine playing totally crazed and angry. 

The King of Comedy is an effective and surprisingly sad tale. The need for validation and the horror of having criminal activity rewarded is not new. It seems prescient in how today so many people would rather be kings for a night than schmucks for a lifetime. It is how one defines schmuck that is the tell. For those who think or have concerns about the violence in Taxi Driver, The King of Comedy touches on similar themes, giving us as close to an upbeat ending about isolation as one can imagine.  

DECISION: A-