Lenny, written by Julian Barry, based on his play - 10 out 10

Lenny, written by Julian Barry, based on his play

10 out 10

Lenny is a phenomenal, outstanding, sophisticated, emotional, amusing, complex, biographical drama, nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Motion Picture and all the other important categories ( Best Leading Actor for Dustin Hoffman, Best Leading Actress for Valerie Perrine, Best Director for Bob Fosse and Best Screenplay for Julian Barry) in the year when the contenders where:

The Godfather Part II (the winner), Chinatown and The Conversation, all masterpieces that have made history.

The story of comedian Lenny Bruce is told with the means of flashbacks, interviews with his wife, Honey Bruce aka Valerie Perrine - a marvelous artist, his agent and mother.

The latter is the one who has launched Lenny on stage, saying he is so funny and making him nervous at his debut, knowing he has to amuse the crowd, later opposing his marriage to another performer who used to strip in clubs and would later become heavily addicted to drugs and sentenced to a prison term.

The comedian would also be arrested multiple times, ironically, for offenses that do not raise an eyebrow today – in the civilized world and not dictatorships like Saudi Arabia, which kills and then dismembers critics in its consulates.

Lenny has an outré, provocative, intelligent, thought provoking, shocking at times, insightful sense of humor, using his brilliant mind, open mindedness, creativity and astounding imagination.

He talks about the wrong use of “fuck you”, which is an insult, when it should actually be the ultimate compliment, used in dialogues like “fuck you mom and fuck you too dad”, at the same time using “unfuck you” as an offense.

In his approach towards sex and the violence perpetrated by war, where coitus is so innocent and pristine when compared with the mass killings of conflict, he reminds one of “The People versus Larry Flint”, directed by the legendary Milos Forman, with the magnificent Milos Forman in the leading role

Lenny Bruce took aim at politicians, various hypocrisies of society, other comedians – including the then God like Jerry Lewis – and took liberties when saying “Did you know that Eleanor Roosevelt gave Lou Gehrig the clap?” then he goes on to say that she gave it to Chiang Kai Shek and that in turn gave it to her husband…and this is how it really spread out “

The hero knows no bounds, in an effort to ridicule hypocrisies, as he tries to argue in court, where he will be often charged and not allowed to defend himself as he wished, by doing his act, showing it is amusing and not offensive.

Indeed, at one point he asks his audience how many “n……” are there in the room, continuing with the number of “Pollacks and other insulting names for various nationalities”, explaining at the end his perspective on these words: if people would repeat them – indeed, if the president Kennedy would come on television and say them- they would lose the value they have as slander.

The private life of the comedian has been very agitated, to use an understatement, from the moment when he abandons a gig where another comic was offensive in his imitation of Asians and as he drives from the club, Lenny Bruce is involved in a serious accident in which his wife is seriously injured – while she is convalescing, he has an affair with one of the nurses of the hospital.

After she recovers, Honey Bruce experiences with sexual intimacy with other women and then she becomes so addicted and overwhelmed by drugs that she cannot be a mother to their daughter and reaches a nadir, ending up in prison in Hawaii.

Lenny takes the child away, but would still support his wife, pay for her lawyer, taking care of his girl all the time and eventually reuniting with Honey, in a sinusoidal relationship, with many vicissitudes.

The brilliant comedian would be arrested multiple times, in an age when saying the word “cocksucking” in public was illegal and the police would take the artist in, he would face many times charges in courts of law, but at the same time, his popularity would increase, large crowds would come to see his act and eventually the performer would become rich, only to lose his fortune when the cases would multiply, the legal fees and medical expenses would bankrupt this hero.

Aspects of his persona, personality were unpleasant, not unlike the actor that is portraying him with exquisite talent, Dustin Hoffman being severely criticized in a quintessential work on Hollywood, the classic Adventures in the Screen Trade, by the winner of two Oscars, William Goldman.

Lenny Bruce was an astute political and social commentator and critic, as probably all the best artists should be – although many would just become deranged when they support the likes of Hugo Chavez, Putin, Castro or Jean Luc Melenchon, to name just a few crazies or murderous dictators.

A note that contains comments on some of the work of the stupendous comedian is found here: http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-50-funniest-american-writers.html