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Lenny Bruce loved words. The most common misconception is that he did not. Today, Bruce is best known for revolutionizing the face of stand-up paving the way for such future talents as George Carlin and Bill Hicks but not many people are actually familiar with his comedy, and that's a shame, because there was a lot more to it than just swearing.He was infamously arrested over a dozen or so times for speaking offensively in comedy clubs, and eventually began to represent himself in court. He never gained respect when he was alive, and so he died a frustrated, misunderstood soul who was simply far too ahead of his time.The masses didn't get him. His racial jokes and political satire was misinterpreted and taken at face value. His sermons ridiculing religion drew hate from conservative Americans.But Bruce enjoyed toying with words, and bending the typical perception of what they symbolized he cherished the impact they had on people. When Bruce said a certain four-letter expletive, it wasn't to purposely offend people it was to help liberate their ways of thinking. Words were an entryway - once he could knock people off-balance, he was free to go for the throat. He used foul language in the same way as he used words dealing with religion, homosexuals, politics and the world he used them to make a point. And it's a shame his point didn't resonate until after his death.The makers of "Lenny" understood Bruce, though. They also understood his flaws as a human being, and the result is an unflinchingly honest biopic that paints a dark, staunch portrait of a troubled man. Dustin Hoffman presents Lenny as an alternately despicable and heroic figure, and there is a spark in his eyes throughout the early scenes of the movie that eventually gives way to desperation later in the picture. Hoffman is so convincing we forget we are watching an actor. He entirely embodies himself within Lenny Bruce, adapting all of the comic's tics and habits.The movie is told from the perspective of those who knew Bruce his wife, Honey (Valerie Perrine), his aunt, and his manager. The narrative cuts back and forth between scenes with Lenny and interview segments, which we see through the eyes of an off-screen interviewer (whose voice is none other than the movie's director, Bob Fosse)."Lenny" is an uncomfortable film, and it is not by any means perfect. The matter-of-fact narrative is a bit alienating and prevents us from getting entirely close to Bruce but that may very well have been the point. A more heartfelt biography of the performer perhaps would have restricted Fosse and screenwriter Julian Barry from divulging into Lenny's more seedy character traits such as when he coerces his unwilling wife into a threesome with another woman, later ridiculing her for doing so; or when he goes on stage completely drugged out of his mind and makes a fool of himself. If they had allowed audiences to empathize with Bruce to a greater degree, truth may have been sacrificed along the way. And although the narrative is rather cold, it's also unique sometimes refreshingly so.Despite imperfections, "Lenny" is one of the better motion pictures of the 1970s and perhaps one of the movies that best capture the essence of cinema from a time when the mainstream and art-house were coexistent.It is a typical 1970s production insofar as that it is grim, bleak and more depressing than any production you would have seen on the screen a decade earlier but it's an admirable feat. Fosse has a close grip on the direction and Hoffman and Perrine are both absolutely superb, bringing to life two very tortured souls who temporarily found solace in each other, before finding their relationship put to the test by drug abuse and self-loathing.Lenny died from a heroin overdose in 1966. In 2003 he was granted a posthumous pardon by New York State for his most notable arrest in 1964, for an "obscene performance." It's a nice gesture, although one can't help but think it would have only really made a difference 40 years ago.

One of the most common eulogies today for Lenny Bruce is that he died for our sins. Perhaps one of the strongest points of "Lenny" is that it does not overtly proclaim the truth of this sentiment, one way or the other - the overdose sequence comes, naturally, after the crescendo of Lenny's legal losses and might therefore lead one to believe that his death was caused by his struggle for freedom of speech. However we are also treated to multiple examples of Lenny's hedonism and the choices (perhaps poor, perhaps misguided) that are also to blame for his death. Did he die for our sins? Or did he die because he overdosed on heroin when he should have known better? A little bit of both, but both Fosse and Hoffman leave it open.Hoffman is simply wonderful. I have never seen footage of a Bruce concert/performance, but I have several as music files and have listened to them many times (particularly the Berkeley and Carnegie Hall performances that are also undoubtedly CDs now); Hoffman captures his verbal mannerisms perfectly. The pauses, the stutters, the sly laugh - close your eyes and Lenny Bruce is right there. Much of the material will be familiar to anyone who has listened to Bruce's work, but there is also much that I have never heard. The last performance in which Lenny is on stage in nothing except a raincoat, in particular, is eye opening - according to the trivia it actually occurred and was sent in by a student who was at the show.The black and white look lends the film a very raw feel, which is fitting given Lenny's comic mannerisms and subjects. I don't know much about cinematography, but I do know that it worked well.The film also makes it very clear that Bruce was far more than tit jokes and profanity. It's easy for some to see and hear Lenny Bruce and think him unoriginal, boring and simply not that big of a deal especially in comparison to the comedy of today. My personal opinion is that Bruce is just as funny today as he was when he was alive: a dangerous kind of funny, a ha-ha funny in which you're not sure if you should be laughing but you do it anyway, a funny unafraid of anything, any boundary and any social more. Yes he is shocking, and yes sometimes some of the comedy is derived from obscenity in the way that some of the comedy of many an otherwise "highbrow" movie is derived from the obscene, but ultimately Lenny's value was that he laughed at his (and our) faults and made it seem okay to join him. The scene where he very dramatically segue ways from a successful bit to him calling for "niggers" is an example of this; it holds its value even today. The audience is shocked, sure that he has finally stepped over the line, and Lenny reels them in with his skill and acuity, going around pointing out the "kykes", "spic", "wops", etc. and noting that if JFK used the word "nigger" everyday in his public speech it might one day mean that the word no longer had the power to make a twelve year old black kid cry. It is just one more example of the power of words and of Lenny Bruce's awareness of this.The clear dilemma of the movie is that Bruce is crass, rude, selfish, often annoying, highly unlikable... and ultimately right. I have always gotten the sense that Lenny was most undoubtedly an asshole, and that the case for martyrdom has a little too much revisionism going for it. I don't think he did his comedy to empower the rest of us, per se, nor to make a sacrifice for freedom of speech and, by inference, the soul of America. I think that Lenny Bruce was just being Lenny Bruce, that he could no more NOT get up in front of an audience and speak frankly of what was on his mind than you or I could stop breathing on purpose. That he did so was right and natural for him, and to do otherwise would probably have driven him mad or at least mediocre; it does not diminish his impact nor his contribution to American comedy, American society and America.Hoffman and Fosse have brought all of this out. See this movie - especially if you're easily offended, because you need it the most.

Lenny

1974

Action / Biography / Drama

Lenny

1974

Action / Biography / Drama

Plot summary

Director

Top cast

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Movie Reviews

A brilliant - if imperfect - biopic of a tragically misunderstood man

Funny, sad, revealing and still powerfully relevant - Lenny Bruce!

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