Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic (2005)

Sarah Silverman cracks me up. She's so different than anyone else who makes people laugh for a living. She's completely fearless -- her list of "taboo" subjects is non-existent -- and her delivery is sometimes so clever that I often feel as though I'm the only one who catches all of the jokes she carelessly drops, sometimes under her breath.

So I love her. And that's why I hate to say anything negative about the movie, but it sometimes doesn't quite work. Don't get me wrong, it worked in my living room -- where it didn't work was with the live audience. Perhaps some of the subject matter was too...what? Raw? Hard to understand if you're not on the right wavelength? Subtle? Out there? I'm not sure, but whatever it was, the audience didn't always respond as though they found the funny and that hurt the film. It felt a little like I was the only one laughing...which would have been embarrassing if I were in the theater...which made me think "what is WRONG with those people"...which made me realize that a concert film probably was a bad idea for Ms. Silverman.

Not all of the bits killed me -- I could've done without her harmony number (her ass taking a mic for its part), for example -- but most of the material was inventive, brave, and hysterical. I just think she works better in small doses, a theory which seems supported by the fact that her Comedy Central program is gold and I think it's because she's bouncing off a game cast and it's the right length for her.

The comedy gets an A- but the movie gets a

B