Comedian
Miramax Home Entertainment | Release Date: October 11, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
11
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
lluminating and exceptional docu-portrait. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneAllan Johnson
A film that comes close to re-creating the funny-but-serious environment of stand-up comedy. Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
Instead of prying into his soul, the filmmakers investigate his working conditions and offer a sort of backstage ethnographic study of the professional stand-up culture. Read full review
80
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
What begins as an indulgent vanity piece (Seinfeld was a producer of the film) ends up as a fascinating portrait of creativity at its most compulsive. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJ. R. Jones
Superlative documentary by Christian Charles delves into the world of stand-up with a seriousness and attention to detail matched only by Phil Berger's book "The Last Laugh." Read full review
80
Rolling StonePeter Travers
It's funny as hell, and like all comedy that stings, sorrowful at its core. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Seinfeld is the perfect figure to center a documentary called, generically, Comedian. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Entertaining. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Shows Jerry Seinfeld as you've never seen him before: being unfunny. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The thrust of the movie is that even for Jerry, the quintessential scientist of stand-up, comedy is very, very hard to do. By the end, you're closer to knowing why. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Although respectful of its central subject, Comedian is not worshipful. Rather, it is curious about what in Seinfeld's hard-wiring allows him to maintain his equilibrium. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Its power and bite come from the contrast Seinfeld makes with Orny Adams, a younger comedian on the verge of success who is everything Seinfeld is not: hungry, vain, petty, mean-spirited, desperate for recognition. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
There's plenty of humour in Comedian but not a lot of happiness -- apparently, the sad clown is a cliché for good reason. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Fascinating and often very funny behind-the-scenes look at the tedium and hard work that go into making strangers laugh. Read full review
70
VarietyRobert Koehler
Gains much greater texture from the intercutting between the two performers than had it remained simply a Seinfeld promotional project. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's an agreeable, sometimes hilarious picture that looks at the world of comedy from many vantage points, chiefly the apex. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
I don't mean to be negative, but I want Orny Adams hung naked over a pit of snapping crocodiles. That said, Comedian is a lightweight but appealing backstage film about two performers. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
As a portrait of a man at the top of his profession starting over, it's involving throughout, and funny, too. Its range proves too narrow to support the questions it raises, but it's memorable for the point it repeats. Read full review
60
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Seinfeld's cool professionalism is almost cruelly juxtaposed with the tortured narcissism of heel-nipping tyro Orny Adams, who illustrates the mirror-image view from below. Comedy is pain, whether you're top- or underdog. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie was produced by Seinfeld, and protects him. The visuals tend toward the dim, the gray and the washed-out, and you wish instead of spending a year with their store-boughts, they'd spent a month and used the leftover to hire a cinematographer. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
A not particularly revealing documentary. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
This film got made because Seinfeld is famous, but it's still hard not to wish the filmmakers had devoted a couple of years to following Adams instead. The guy's such a throbbing bundle of arrogance, raw nerves and self-destructive insecurity that you can see the flame-out coming. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesJan Stuart
What makes Comedian more than just another documentary about the comedy club comeback of a sitcom prince is that it contrasts his struggle with that of just another stand-up climber, Orny Adams. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Despite amazing access to Seinfeld backstage, we don't get a peek into the real man. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
What we're left with is half a movie about a cocky up-and-comer, and half a movie that could be one of those MTV Diary of... specials on Jerry Seinfeld. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
More like watching a Polaroid picture develop without ever getting to see the finished picture. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
At its best, it's a lively on-the-road chronicle of how to put an act together from scratch. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyMark Olsen
Has moments of real interest, but they require wading through a lot of dead air. Read full review
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