Comedian

A documentary about Jerry Seinfeld's efforts to fashion a completely new standup act after the end of his fabulously successful television series, Comedian is a moderately engaging but structurally problematic film that is intriguing and often insightful…when the focus is on Seinfeld. In view of his obvious financial security, Seinfeld's tendency to whine about his nervousness may not work up much sympathy with viewers; one must admit, however, that it takes courage to put this degree of self-absorption onscreen. It's also interesting to watch him interacting with colleagues such as Colin Quinn, Garry Shandling, and Jay Leno (though a meeting with Bill Cosby comes across as too much of a mutual admiration society). Where Comedian goes entirely off track, however, is in introducing a parallel storyline about a young comic, Orny Adams, who's struggling to begin a career. Adams is intended to echo the early Seinfeld's start, one supposes, but his hyper manner isn't at all similar to Jerry's deadpan style, and--worse--he's not very funny. A simpler, leaner narrative, jettisoning much of the Adams material, would have been preferable. After all, as the TV show proved, less is often more. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one by director Christian Charles and producer Gary Streiner, the other by star Jerry Seinfeld and contributing comedian Colin Quinn), five deleted scenes with optional commentary by Charles and Streiner, two seven-minute interviews of Seinfeld and Orny Adams by Martin Short as his “Jiminy Glick” character, Seinfeld and Adams' “Late Night with David Letterman” performances (seven and six minutes respectively), the three-minute featurette “Where is Orny Now?”, “The Anatomy of a Joke” text notes (by Seinfeld, Adams and Quinn) on “developing" material, and advertising campaign features that include commercials, spoof trailer, posters, and action figure stills. Bottom line: a meaty extras package for an interesting if overlong profile.] (F. Swietek)