Abel Raises Cain

Jenny Abel's documentary (which she wrote and directed with Jeff Hockett) is an affectionate portrait of her father, Alan, who spent 50 years perpetrating some of the most elaborate hoaxes this side of the Yes Men. Bookended by segments showing that her parents have fallen on tough financial times, the film mixes interviews with Alan and his wife, Jeanne, as well as comments from friends, collaborators, and journalists, together with abundant archival footage—including TV clips—to showcase Abel's brand of guerilla satire. Most extensively covered are his Society for Indecency to Naked Animals, which was devoted to clothing critters, and an organization that aimed to ban breast-feeding because it created erotic feelings in mothers. In another long-running gag, Abel portrayed Omar, who purportedly operated a school for beggars. More cursory treatment is given here to other stunts, including Abel's appearance as Howard Hughes; a charade involving the Iran-Contra scandal; Abel's porno movie spoof Is There Sex After Death?; and his staging of a phony wedding for exiled African dictator Idi Amin. Although not terribly introspective, this amusing film does effectively argue that Abel's work was a form of performance art that is relevant as a prophetic send-up of today's more sensationalist TV shows. DVD extras include audio commentary by the three Abels and Hockett, a featurette on Abel's Powerball lottery hoax, raw footage of his Hughes news conference, a satirical lecture Abel presented to advertising workers, and three deleted sequences. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)