Saturday, March 21, 2009

Heckler (2007)


Screened week of February 10th, 2009. Directed by Michael Addis but driven mostly by comedian/character actor Jamie Kennedy. Kennedy has always seemed to me like a nice enough guy but sort of a modest talent. That said, this is documentary is smart, funny and makes a good point -- the communication revolution provides everyone a voice. But does that mean that everyone has something worth saying?

It's also one of those films that asks comedians to answer real questions -- not like when they're on Leno and he asks, "So I hear you fly on airplanes a lot?" This means the truth is revealed as to which comedians are genuine thinkers and which are dumber than a box of rocks. I'd tell you which is which here but I saw this four weeks ago and already forgot. I do remember that I was pretty surprised by at least a few comedians who just seemed incapable of intelligent conversation. I mean, either these comics are dopes or they have no respect for these people who dragged all their gear over to your damn house and set it up and took the time to think what to ask you, etc. And you just lay an egg.

Anyway the movie spends a lot of time complaining, coincidentally about evolutions like this blog. New technology means any old idiot, including me, can spout opinions. That's liberating and a great enabling advance for a democratic society. But that also means there's a lot of shit critiques out there. The irony is that these filmmakers have to take the bad with the good, meaning I'm prepared to acknowledge that this is a very good point within a very good film, but that also means that, by their logic, my opinion isn't worth shit.

No comments:

Post a Comment