Comedian (2002)

The film’s focus is Jerry Seinfeld, but it also gives a lot of screen time to a still small-time comic Orny Adams. I was sick of Adams pretty quick -- whiny, self-centered, and (from what I saw) not terribly talented -- but I think the scenes with him were necessary so that we had a point of reference. It's kind of like when they show a picture of a dinosaur in a textbook and draw a little man down by his toenails. Having Orny Adams as a counterpoint to Jerry Seinfeld was a brilliant idea. On his own, Seinfeld could have come off as nervous and unpolished, but because of the way the film goes back and forth between the two, we understand how much more accomplished and crowd-pleasing Jerry is and why.

I have a new respect for those who put their ideas out there for nothing more than the reward of a chorus of laughs.

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