
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work covers the comedian for 14 months after she turned 75, making an effort to peel away the mask of the groundbreaking performer.
Joan Rivers opened the door for many female comedians to follow in her footsteps. However, she wasn’t the first because Phyllis Diller blew the door wide open along with other female comedians. In her final years, Rivers was probably known more for plastic surgery than her comedy. Perhaps this is what makes the documentary on Rivers so insightful in looking at how success has made the queen of comedy vulnerable. One thing is for certain: the documentary is not for everyone–this is okay because Rivers herself was not for everyone.
There’s no doubt that Rivers herself was a polarizing figure. Some people know Joan Rivers because of her plastic surgery rather than because of comedy. Or there are those who know her because of her brashness and this lack of restraint that comes with it. When it comes to a figure like Rivers, you can depend on her to say what she says and mean it, even if it’s being delivered through the guise of comedy. She was a proud Jew, too–if you notice the footage from her play, there are Israeli flags in the background.
Filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg had unprecedented access to Joan Rivers. During this time, she was performing her stand-up act while also rehearsing for and starring in a play in London about her rise to stardom. There were a pair of TV pilots, promoting two books, and her participation in Celebrity Apprentice. The then-present day verité footage is weaved in with home movies, stand-up routines, book recordings, personal photographs and archival footage. Even has she attained the heights of celebrity, Rivers was what we would refer to as an anti-celebrity.
Joan Rivers admits that people think her comedy comes easy but she prepares “like a crazy lady.” She was “wild for the time” when she first started her career in comedy. Things have changed since then, of course. Aging comedians–for instance, Bob Newhart or Don Rickles–either fade away from the spotlight or do whatever they can to stay in the spotlight. Rivers was doing everything she could to stay in the conversation with this want to keep performing. Even during the 14 months of filming, she was doing what she could to reinvent herself.
The challenge for filmmakers covering a legend like Rivers is determining which trips to go on and let things breathe for a minute. One such trip was to a Northern Wisconsin casino as Rivers was booked to perform there. It was a remote part of Wisconsin, requiring three flights. They didn’t think it would be important but at the end of the day, cinematographer Charles Miller covered the trip and captured Joan Rivers being heckled and responding. It’s one of those moments that turns out to be important and they almost didn’t even have it on camera!
A big part of Joan Rivers’ history is that she was hired to host the short-lived late night Fox show. The show turned out to be her undoing at NBC, seeing as how Johnny Carson WAS late night. Anyone that tried to set up shop against Carson ultimately ended up failing. He welcomed back on his show, mainly because they appeared beforehand to get his blessing. Rivers had been the permanent guest host since 1983, but they never spoke again after Carson slammed the phone down.
The relationship with Carson wasn’t the only unfortunate impact of Rivers leaving NBC for Fox. Her husband, Edgar Rosenberg, had managed Rivers for much of her career to this point but depression led him to kill himself a few months after Fox fired them in 1987. Rosenberg’s suicide resulted in both Joan and Melissa Rivers seeking therapy.
One of the final events in the documentary sees Rivers splitting the bill with insult comic Don Rickles. Rickles was still cracking jokes into his 80s. He passed away shortly before his 91st birthday in 2017.
In pulling back the curtain, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work reveals the vulnerable side of a perfectionist, even if her brashness was polarizing for audiences.
DIRECTOR: Ricki Stern
CO-DIRECTOR: Annie Sundberg
SCREENWRITER: Ricki Stern
FEATURING: Joan Rivers, Melissa Rivers, Don Rickles, Kathy Griffin, Jocelyn Pickett, Billy Sammeth, Larry Thompson, Graham Reed, Kevin Brennan, Debbie Brennan, Analie Berthel, Sean Foley, Emily Kosloski, Carrie Paff, Mark Philips, Dennis Markell, Gilda Frost, David Dangle, Adele Fass, George Lange, Dr. Joy Brown, Raymond Rosario, Henry Edwards, Martyn Fletcher, Robbie Yule, Nathan Osgood, Stuart Slavicky, Graham McLusky, Martin Witts, Kevin Wilson, Kate Forrester, Lindsay Hill, Joe Castagna, Kiki Koh, Mohamed Darwish, William the Fan, Cooper, Jerry Mierzwa, Blane Trump, Flo Fox, Larry Amoros, Marion Rosenfeld, Jon Stewart, Richard Belzer, Dennis Leary, Garry Shandling, Lily Tomlin, Bill Maher, Alex Homan, Denee Collay, Sabrina Miller, Debbie Green, Terry Wayne Sanders, Brad Garret, Greg Giraldo, Jeffrey Ross, Tony Oppedlsano, David Muir
IFC Films released Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work in theaters on June 11, 2010. PBS later aired the film as part of American Masters in 2014. Grade: 3.5/5
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