My first exposure to the world of Lenny Bruce was the Broadway show, Lenny. The film is (loosely) based on the play, which rather faithfully followed the life of Lenny Bruce (more or less) and told his story using entirely his own words. In the stage version, Lenny was played by Cliff Gorman, whose best known role was that of the wildly effeminate character Emory in both the film and original stage productions of Mart Crowley's play the Boys in the Band. At the time, I ran out and purchased everything I could find on Lenny Bruce, because Cliff Gorman was that funny. I laughed so hard in the theatre, I thought I'd die, and had trouble deciding what was more important, Lenny Bruce's status as one of the funniest comedians around, or the amazing social commentary that was contained in his routines. At the time, I remember thinking that Lenny Bruce was more of a philosopher or even a potential cult religious leader than a comedian. He had a knack of exposing hypocrisy, be it in politics, organized religion, race relations or whatever. I was convinced, at the tender age of 18, that Lenny Bruce had the keys, if not the answers, to all of the world's problems.
I went out and purchased the cast album of the Broadway show, which consisted of a 2 LP recording of a complete live performance of the play. I spent hours comparing Cliff Gorman to the real Lenny Bruce, and each time I listened to either, I memorized one of Lenny's hysterically funny bits. When I listened to records of the real Lenny Bruce, I marveled at how perfectly Cliff Gorman had reproduced his persona. The rapid-fire delivery, the inflection, even the tonal quality of his voice and the exact pauses in his speech were there. It was like Lenny Bruce had been reincarnated as Cliff Gorman. I had trouble deciding if this was great acting or just a good impersonation, and in the end decided it didn't matter, for the material in Lenny seemed to capture the real Lenny Bruce. That was good enough for me.
When the film was announced, and I'd heard that Dustin Hoffman had been chosen to play Lenny, I was thrilled. As a fan of Mr. Hoffman, I was sure he could do great justice to both the man and the material. By the time the picture was completed, I had learned almost as much about Lenny Bruce's life as I ever would, and was familiar with probably 80% of his most famous routines. The Masked Man, Christ and Moses, Las Vegas Tits and Ass, Airplane Glue, Ike and Nixon, Jackie Kennedy I knew a lot of these by heart. Some of them I memorized cold, and found that when people mentioned his name at parties or family gatherings, and someone invariably asked who he was, rather than explain his life or what he died of, all I had to do was recite one of his bits. I never had a single person who was new to his material that didn't pronounce him awesome (as the kids say nowadays) on the spot.
I don't remember what film I was watching (it was 31 years ago) when I first saw a trailer for the film, but as soon as I saw a clip of Dustin Hoffman as Lenny I knew something was wrong. I had a sinking feeling that I wasn't going to like the movie bio of what was now my favorite comedian, but I went to see it anyway, as soon as it opened, hoping my gut instinct was wrong. The cinematography was stunning. The direction was first rate. The story was fairly faithful to the life and spirit of Lenny Bruce, and Dustin Hoffman did as good an acting job as I'd ever seen. All of the bits were there, and so was a fairly faithful rendering of his professional life. So what was the problem? The problem was simply that Dustin wasn't funny. Those were Lenny Bruce's words and Lenny Bruce's life, but the jokes fell flat. I came to the conclusion that no matter how skilled he is as an actor, Dustin Hoffman is no comedian. He certainly was no Lenny Bruce. Where was the lightning timing I was used to from the Cliff Gorman and Lenny Bruce recordings? Mr. Hoffman seemed very unsure of his material, and delivered all the routines at what seemed like half-speed. It was almost like he was a 45 RPM record being played at 33 1/3. I wanted to reach into his mouth and pull the words out, and shout at the screen, "You've got it all wrong! This is too somber and too slow and too unfunny to be Lenny Bruce". Worse, Mr. Hoffman had the annoying habit (which Lenny never did) of laughing at his own jokes. Not loud guffaws mind you, just chuckles. Constant chuckles, almost to himself, which left me with the impression that he thought that he was the only one who got the material.
I bought the VHS when it came out several years later and watched it faithfully, hoping that as an older and wiser person, maybe I would find things in Mr. Hoffman's performance that I missed in 1974. I wanted it to click. No such luck. I then dutifully purchased the DVD, as I have always purchased "new" Lenny Bruce recording or, lately videos, never tiring of his delivery or his message. Again, I hoped that time had been kind to the portrayal I had so looked forward to in 1974. But I screened it recently, and the film still leaves me cold, despite the best of intentions, the flawless direction and the great production values. Icon, philosopher, cult leader or genius, if nothing else, Lenny Bruce was funny. And Dustin Hoffman was not.
I went out and purchased the cast album of the Broadway show, which consisted of a 2 LP recording of a complete live performance of the play. I spent hours comparing Cliff Gorman to the real Lenny Bruce, and each time I listened to either, I memorized one of Lenny's hysterically funny bits. When I listened to records of the real Lenny Bruce, I marveled at how perfectly Cliff Gorman had reproduced his persona. The rapid-fire delivery, the inflection, even the tonal quality of his voice and the exact pauses in his speech were there. It was like Lenny Bruce had been reincarnated as Cliff Gorman. I had trouble deciding if this was great acting or just a good impersonation, and in the end decided it didn't matter, for the material in Lenny seemed to capture the real Lenny Bruce. That was good enough for me.
When the film was announced, and I'd heard that Dustin Hoffman had been chosen to play Lenny, I was thrilled. As a fan of Mr. Hoffman, I was sure he could do great justice to both the man and the material. By the time the picture was completed, I had learned almost as much about Lenny Bruce's life as I ever would, and was familiar with probably 80% of his most famous routines. The Masked Man, Christ and Moses, Las Vegas Tits and Ass, Airplane Glue, Ike and Nixon, Jackie Kennedy I knew a lot of these by heart. Some of them I memorized cold, and found that when people mentioned his name at parties or family gatherings, and someone invariably asked who he was, rather than explain his life or what he died of, all I had to do was recite one of his bits. I never had a single person who was new to his material that didn't pronounce him awesome (as the kids say nowadays) on the spot.
I don't remember what film I was watching (it was 31 years ago) when I first saw a trailer for the film, but as soon as I saw a clip of Dustin Hoffman as Lenny I knew something was wrong. I had a sinking feeling that I wasn't going to like the movie bio of what was now my favorite comedian, but I went to see it anyway, as soon as it opened, hoping my gut instinct was wrong. The cinematography was stunning. The direction was first rate. The story was fairly faithful to the life and spirit of Lenny Bruce, and Dustin Hoffman did as good an acting job as I'd ever seen. All of the bits were there, and so was a fairly faithful rendering of his professional life. So what was the problem? The problem was simply that Dustin wasn't funny. Those were Lenny Bruce's words and Lenny Bruce's life, but the jokes fell flat. I came to the conclusion that no matter how skilled he is as an actor, Dustin Hoffman is no comedian. He certainly was no Lenny Bruce. Where was the lightning timing I was used to from the Cliff Gorman and Lenny Bruce recordings? Mr. Hoffman seemed very unsure of his material, and delivered all the routines at what seemed like half-speed. It was almost like he was a 45 RPM record being played at 33 1/3. I wanted to reach into his mouth and pull the words out, and shout at the screen, "You've got it all wrong! This is too somber and too slow and too unfunny to be Lenny Bruce". Worse, Mr. Hoffman had the annoying habit (which Lenny never did) of laughing at his own jokes. Not loud guffaws mind you, just chuckles. Constant chuckles, almost to himself, which left me with the impression that he thought that he was the only one who got the material.
I bought the VHS when it came out several years later and watched it faithfully, hoping that as an older and wiser person, maybe I would find things in Mr. Hoffman's performance that I missed in 1974. I wanted it to click. No such luck. I then dutifully purchased the DVD, as I have always purchased "new" Lenny Bruce recording or, lately videos, never tiring of his delivery or his message. Again, I hoped that time had been kind to the portrayal I had so looked forward to in 1974. But I screened it recently, and the film still leaves me cold, despite the best of intentions, the flawless direction and the great production values. Icon, philosopher, cult leader or genius, if nothing else, Lenny Bruce was funny. And Dustin Hoffman was not.