This documentary opens on an extreme close-up of its subject’s face, skin pale and stretched tighter than a snare drum. Yet the movie isn’t out to show us the woman behind the showbiz mask, showing instead that the woman is the mask—that the “real” Joan Rivers is the cackling, crass comedienne onstage. The film follows the 75-year-old Rivers over the course of a trying year in her career, as she books afternoon stand-up slots at Bronx clubs, mounts an ill-fated play and appears on Celebrity Apprentice. She’s profane, self-deprecating and painfully insecure throughout, fearful that the blank spots in her calendar will never fill up. Rivers is a fame monster, but a funny and hardworking one, so it’s hard not to cheer for her.
This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2010.