"I don't excercise. If God had wanted me to bend over, he would have put diamonds on the floor." -Joan Rivers
I've always loved Joan Rivers. I remember her talk show when I was a kid and I loved it. I've always thought she was funny and even when I went and saw her one woman show a few years ago at the now defunct Canon Theater in Beverly Hills with my friend Buck Davis, I still loved her even though I thought she looked more like Madame than she did the Joan Rivers I so fondly remember.
This documentary made me love her all over again...and maybe even more.
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work follows Joan through a year in the life of one of the only remaining performers who were brought up in the time when beating the pavement was the only way to get a job.
And at 77 years old, she's still doing it.
Whether you know all there is to know about Miss Rivers or you don't know much about her at all, this piece really opens your eyes and mind about her. It tackles EVERYTHING. Her past, her future, her plastic surgery, her struggle, her fame, Melissa AND how the struggle of an artist is never ending. (Even though Forbes has her personal net worth at 290 million dollars.)
I personally laughed OUT LOUD over and over again. She's hysterical. In fact I think she's more hysterical OFF stage than she is on. The film captures her just being... her. (And being her is hysterical. She's fuckin' hysterical.) The film also brought tears to my eyes. They didn't do it in a depressing, sad old lady way, they did it in the "beneath all the plastic surgery scars that have healed, there are emotional scars that won't" way.
It's real. She's real.
It's great.
(At this point I wanted to put the trailer to the film but I didn't see it before I went and everything was so fresh and funny and new and none of the great one liners were given away... so I don't want to ruin anything for you. But if YOU want to ruin things for you OR simply be excited about what this film has in store for you: CLICK HERE FOR THE MOVIE TRAILER)
Things I LOVED about this film. She's charming, determined, you get to see her find herself so funny (and THAT'S so funny) and you get to see her without make-up.
What I appreciate about this film is that it's not a total sell-out OR a complete up-sale of Joan Rivers. She's older, her audience isn't growing, her material is sometimes stale, people just think of her as a plastic surgery freak. ALL of this is included. A Piece of Work shows EVERY side of her. You don't have to love her, but you will. You don't have to respect her, but you will. You don't have to think she's funny, but I promise you will.
You don't even have to think she's a legend, but after watching this film...you will.
