Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010)

In 1993, I sat in the audience for one of Joan Rivers' stand-up shows, seated way back in the nosebleed section – practically in the rafters – from my vantage point she was a tiny blur on the stage. Her voice, however, was not. It was loud, raspy, boisterous and unmistakably Joan. Her comedy was obscene, crude, vulgar, at times shocking but it was also unmercifully funny – you don't survive in comedy for forty years by being mediocre.Joan Rivers died this week leaving behind a legacy that was as funny as it was groundbreaking. She wasn't dainty. She wasn't a lady in any traditional sense. She was loud and had a big mouth, and part of the reason for that is that her career blossomed at a time when women typically didn't do stand-up. Women in comedy mostly found themselves in situation comedies, mostly in the straight man role. In other words, she had a fight for it and she had to create a persona that would get everyone's attention.It is reasonable to assume that the best way to experience a comedian is to see them on stage. That is the best way to experience their talent. In order to get under their skin, it takes a special kind of lens. For Joan Rivers, it was an extraordinary 2010 documentary called Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, a movie that not only exposed her talent but helps us understand who she was as a person. I didn't know Joan Rivers except in a few bits on television now and then. I never really understood the person under the boisterousness until I saw this film.The film followed one year in the life of this living legend who, at 75, showed no signs of slowing down. Through a face rendered almost immobile by innumerable trips to the plastic surgeon she reminded us that she spent her life dancing as fast as she can, as if she was fearful that she would vanish. At her rapid pace, she never lost her edge. This despite a career and a life that wasn't always sunshine and roses. From failed marriages to banishment from "The Tonight Show", to health problems, to her husband's suicide, to a near-addiction to plastic surgery, you can imagine that a conglomeration of these experiences would bring anyone else to a nervous breakdown. Joan seemed to keep dancing in order to stay afloat.What the movie reveals is a woman whose boisterous personality masked a great deal of insecurity. Early in the film she shows one of her date books from years past, filled with scheduled shows and many, many crossed-out appointments, some crowded onto the same day. "That's happiness," she says. Then she turns to a page full of empty dates and says seriously "That's fear. If my book ever looked like this, it would mean that nobody wants me, that nobody loved me." There is a painful truth in this scene, that somewhere buried under that brash personality was someone who needed her public life in an effort to feel needed.Joan Rivers was a tireless worker, moving like a runaway train to remain at the top of her game even into her 80s. In the film, she goes through her overly decorated home where she shows us a joke file, set up like a library card system where she kept the jokes that popped into her head. She was determined to keep herself fresh and original. Early in the film we see one of her stand up routines. There she is, 75 and still loaded with boundless energy. There she is, crude and obscene, but there she is, full of energy and hysterically funny.Rivers, who had been working in show business for more than four decades, established herself in the arena of stand-up comedy by discussing topics - tampons, sex, abortions - that women didn't discuss even in private. She was working in an extremely male dominated arena, doing material that even most of the men backed away from. During a clip of one of her early trips to Johnny Carson's show, the host suggests that men prefer intellectual women. "Oh please!" Joan says, "No man ever put his hand up a woman's skirt looking for a library card!" What I see in Joan Rivers, and what this documentary displays most honestly, is that comics are always needy. There's some discomfort inside of them to always keep themselves new and different for fear that they will become a has-been or worse stale and dated. Joan Rivers was a woman racing to stay ahead of the train. She created the persona of a loud, overbearing Jewish woman who spoke her mind. It was a persona that never left her. She is fearless and determined that she would never give up. Late in her life, her personality didn't change. What you could see was a woman who had lived a life that would have killed a lesser person. She was straightforward, and you got the idea that she had outlived and outfoxed all the games life plays. If life dealt her a bad hand, she didn't falter. She just grabbed the mike, and kept doing the thing that she did best.

Whatever your opinion of her may be, you cannot deny the universal fame of Joan Rivers. One of, if not the, most recognizable female comedian the world has to offer, Rivers had been thrusting herself into the spotlight for the better part of the 50 years. And whether a rabid fan, an adamant hater, or somewhere in between, everyone knows Joan. Her sharp wit and wickedly crass material have been overshadowed by her commitment to plastic surgery and unfortunate career choices but at the same time, you have to credit her for still having a career at all this far into the game. On the verge of turning 75, "Piece of Work" details the life and times of Rivers from the highs to the lows and her rise to budding superstar and fall to Indian casino bookings.First of all it should be noted that I really wasn't interested in this movie. Obviously I love a good documentary but the thought of sitting through an hour and a half of Joan Rivers sounded only slightly less ominous than wearing Lady Gaga's famed meat suit into shark infested waters. My introduction to Joan Rivers came as a child when she appeared as an over-the-top makeup saleswoman in "The Muppets Take Manhattan," an appearance that left me shell-shocked for the last 25 years. That was enough for me. But when this doc popped up on my bi-weekly search for anything new worth watching on Netflix Instant, I figured it wouldn't hurt to add it to the queue even if I never watched it. (Note to movie studios: this is not the first time this has happened. Netflix Instant is a serious boon to your industry. Embrace it.) And then the weather and AT&T became allies and launched a dual-front attack against my house a couple of weeks ago, knocking out my cable while simultaneously making it impossible for me to leave my house. So when the Lady of the Box Office refused to be party to any of the movies I suggested (who doesn't want to have a "Star Wars" marathon on a snow day?!), we turned to "Piece of Work." Secondly, I was completely taken aback by how compelling I found this documentary to be. It provides not only a look at a comedian's creative process but also an insight into crippling insecurity. The preparation that this woman puts into her craft (comedy) and the seriousness with which she approaches it are remarkable. A wall full of card catalogues house a record of every joke Rivers has ever told and I found her editing methods to be fascinating. At the same time, the need for approval, for fame, for love (essentially) is the overwhelming message of the film. In many ways, Rivers has carved out for herself a remarkable legacy and yet all she can focus on are the rejections and the fragile state of her acting career. It's heart breaking, really, to listen to Rivers as she delves into the depths of her lack of overall confidence, something you'd never pick up for her act. "Piece of Work" also displays a strong if understated caring side to Rivers, particularly in scenes describing her kindness toward past and present employees and the continual badgering of her daughter, Melissa, concerning her smoking. Of course, being the rough-around-the-edges person that she is, her concern comes across as condescending but for me, that made these moments all the more genuine. "Piece of Work" allows the audience to view Joan Rivers as a human when most in my generation have only known her as a caricature-like presence. That humanism is where the movie makes its mark, really, and what sets it apart from other celebrity bio-docs I've seen in the past.My site: www.thesoapboxoffice.blogspot.com

"A Piece of Work" begins with Joan Rivers looking like a refugee from "Night of the Living Dead" before tons of make-up transform her into something resembling a human being. This peek behind the pose may seem brave to some. To me, it confirmed that Rivers has turned herself into Leona Helmsley! A few more gos under the knife, she'll turn herself into Michael Jackson!"A Piece of Work" actually has a lot to say about the nature of celebrity. Rivers has money and fame, but what she really wants is status, which is why she attends a Kennedy Center tribute to George Carlin, although, as she points out, the tribute represents everything Carlin was against, namely rich Republicans (yuk, yuk). That Carlin made millions off of his feigned disdain for the establishment is lost on Rivers. That you have to earn respect in order to get respect is lost on her, too.Kathy Griffin prattles about how Rivers paved the way for her, but that's the extent of the props, which is telling yet not surprising. Like Helmsley, Rivers is an utterly unlikeable creature who makes Snooki look dignified. The tirade during one of her routines about her daughter nixing an offer to pose for Playboy made me want to wash my ears out with soap! Little wonder her manager bails on her every chance he gets, her staffers put up with her only because she pays them, and her daughter (a wanna-be A-lister herself) can't stand being in the same room with her for longer than five minutes. Only once, when she and her grandson (whom she seems to adore) visit an ailing photographer does Rivers seem to get that the world does not revolve around her. But maybe, that was just part of her act.

There are definitely some hilarious moments in here. Joan still packs a wallop at 75. Her humour at times is vulgar – but I don't have an issue with that (it's just a warning that the humour is adult oriented). She performs in a broad spectrum of places - from dumps to respectable. Her home in Manhattan is unbelievable – think of Marie Antoinette!! Certainly not a place to sprawl onto the couch!After about an hour I did get tired of her self-obsessive focus. Why would an audience (except her adoring fans) be interested in a play in which she gives a self-history of her rise to fame? There is always a danger when an actor becomes overly self-centered on her legacy. I believe she has fallen into the trap of not looking outward.Nevertheless Joan is hysterical, can laugh at herself and makes us laugh. .