The Comedian
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: February 3, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
21
Negative:
12
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Entertainment WeeklyJoey NolfiFeb 2, 2017
The Comedian explores the dynamics of such unorthodox attraction with its heart in the right place, but for all of its performative charm, it still suffers the untimely misfortune of following an old, white man grousing about the state of affairs as the world diversifies around him. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 2, 2017
All the movie’s finer points — of audience response, of interaction, of the dances between people — are conveyed with a specificity so expert that it seems offhand. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerFeb 2, 2017
With its jazzy score and drizzly nighttime moods, where The Comedian works best is as a salute to New York stand-up scene, with looks into the Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village and the New York Friars Club. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy BurrFeb 2, 2017
The stand-up routines — from Jackie and the pros alike — are funny and blue enough to shock a few laughs out of you, sometimes in spite of your better judgment, and the star seems once again genuinely invested in creating a character. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonFeb 2, 2017
Much like its Oscar-winning star, the film coasts along on charm and audience goodwill, although a little more edge might have helped. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterStephen FarberNov 12, 2016
The acting in the film is outstanding down to some of the smallest parts, and here director Taylor Hackford (who hasn’t had a major hit in several years) deserves considerable credit for guiding these performers. Read full review
60
The GuardianLanre BakareNov 12, 2016
The storyline does get frayed towards the end...but that’s not really the point; as long as you’re here for the dick jokes. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerFeb 3, 2017
If nothing else, I hope that The Comedian signals an attempt by De Niro to once again take acting seriously. Without much supporting evidence, he’s still routinely called our greatest living actor. There’s still time to make good on that. Read full review
58
ConsequenceMichael RoffmanFeb 2, 2017
What really hurts the film is its messy screenplay and boilerplate direction. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyFeb 3, 2017
The movie never builds enough momentum, emotional or narrative, to get the viewer on its side. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredJoseph HernandezFeb 2, 2017
It’s way too long and ends up feeling like a chore to get through. Furthermore, the raunchy shock-value humor leaves your memory as soon as it enters, actors go grossly under-utilized and the title character fails to live up to his name. Quite frankly, he’s just a bummer to be around. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghFeb 2, 2017
The laughs don’t add up. There’s no dramatic arc. Jackie doesn’t grow or learn from his downfall, so much as bumble his way out of it to an unsatisfying conclusion. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniFeb 2, 2017
A mildly charming, if singularly unoriginal, comedy. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisFeb 1, 2017
While occasionally engaging, The Comedian isn’t very funny. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 31, 2017
This “Comedian” is — like many a desperate stand-up — content to go for the dirty/easy laugh, the kind you see coming a mile off, the kind you feel coarse for rewarding with a snicker, the kind you can hear in any high school locker room. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 1, 2016
It plays like an opportunity missed. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangDec 1, 2016
De Niro’s scenes with Mann glow with warmth and wit, but something in his performance clenches up whenever Jackie gets behind a microphone and starts railing about masturbation, incontinence and other below-the-waist targets. Read full review
50
The PlaylistGregory EllwoodNov 14, 2016
There is a sense of exhaustive familiarity that permeates throughout Taylor Hackford’s new dramedy The Comedian. Read full review
50
VarietyGeoff BerkshireNov 12, 2016
Even with a bona fide icon at its center, The Comedian doesn’t dig deep enough to add anything substantial to the subgenre. Read full review
50
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeNov 12, 2016
You’ll come away from this film remembering some of the better moments, and a few of the quieter interactions between the characters, but they’ll be mostly overpowered by the stench of everything else. Read full review
42
MTV NewsAmy NicholsonFeb 2, 2017
It’s hard to spend time with Jackie, and Hackford doesn’t make a convincing case as to why we should. Instead, the script attempts to justify his bitterness by lowering the rest of the world to his level. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerFeb 1, 2017
The uncomfortable yet not unwelcome spectacle of De Niro attempting zingers makes this movie an essential subject for future study of the actor’s comic side. Unfortunately, it is essential in no other way. Read full review
42
The Film StageDaniel SchindelNov 13, 2016
The Comedian might have been salvageable if the namesake character were, you know, funny. But not only is this not the case, the film makes Jackie’s stage presence even more grating by insisting with every frame that he’s brilliant. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaFeb 6, 2017
The Comedian falls into the same trap as most films that hinge on an amazing song or an incredible painting — Jackie’s act doesn’t quite live up to its riotous reception. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisFeb 2, 2017
The director, Taylor Hackford, never makes any of this pop, which isn’t a surprise given the material. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithFeb 2, 2017
In “Raging Bull” and “The King of Comedy,” Robert De Niro did stand-up comedy badly. In The Comedian he does it badly again — there’s that same air of menace and gracelessness — but this time the movie want us to think he’s brilliant. Read full review
38
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonFeb 2, 2017
Working from a lackluster screenplay by a squad of writers, director Taylor Hackford (“Ray”) delivers a film so low in energy that it’s almost as if it was made to assist airline passengers in falling asleep. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 2, 2017
Everyone in The Comedian deserves a better movie than The Comedian. Read full review
38
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldFeb 1, 2017
Every scene in this film, which stars Robert De Niro as the washed-up title character, is dragged out — kicking and screaming — far longer than it needs to be. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanFeb 2, 2017
The real problem, when all is said and done, isn’t the movie but the man with the microphone in its spotlight. Despite two comedy consultants who worked on the film, De Niro’s Jackie never comes across as especially funny on stage (or especially likable off). Read full review
30
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Feb 2, 2017
Robert De Niro is back doing standup in The Comedian, and it's a movie made to be heckled. Full of gross jokes (and an even grosser love story), it deserves the hook — and fast. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFeb 2, 2017
With The Comedian arriving in theaters, it’s safe to say I now have only nine spaces left on my list of the 10 Worst Movies of 2017. Read full review
25
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallFeb 2, 2017
The Comedian is a phony movie about funny people, starring a great actor understanding next to nothing about stand-up comedy. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineElise NakhnikianJan 30, 2017
Nearly everything in Taylor Hackford's tin-eared comedy is as ersatz as the Robert De Diro character's rage is real. Read full review
25
IndieWireBen TraversNov 12, 2016
Too conventional to function as shock comedy and too angry to spark spontaneous laughs, The Comedian is a film without a purpose. Read full review
20
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottFeb 2, 2017
Maybe it would work better if the script -- which is credited to four screenwriters; never a great sign -- was actually funny. Read full review
0
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternFeb 2, 2017
Why did Mr. De Niro do it, and why would anyone pay money to see it? Read full review
More From This Movie

40 Critic Reviews

5.2 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL