Saturday, July 3, 2010

'Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work' Review


Love her or hate her, you have to admire Joan Rivers for being a survivor. She's had her share of personal and professional disasters that would have defeated most of us. Yet she's still here and working hard at 77. This new documentary covers everything you need to know about her tumultuous life. There's the usual interviews with people who know her best and the best segments are with Joan. You see her warts and all as cameras followed her for a year. Although there's plenty of info packed into 90 minutes, you wish it was longer.
>>Her comedy is a matter of taste. If you think she's obnoxious on TV, seeing her live is another matter. I remember my parents seeing her show years ago in Atlantic City and telling us how filthy she is in person. In fairness to her, that's true about many comedians you know only from TV. Recently a co-worker walked out of Everybody Loves Raymond's Brad Garrett show at a local casino because of his coarse language. Be prepared to hear Joan during a club date tossing out four letter words along with some gross jokes. It's shocking but funny.
>>She's candid about her triumphs & tragedies including her husband's suicide. She survived because she's a tough businesswoman who looks out for number one but is also generous to her friends and performs charity work. She lives in a lavish NYC apartment comparable to Versailles and is entitled to it because she earned it.
>>She's hard on herself too and hates not to work. How many of us can say that? Included here is her triumph on TV's Celebrity Apprentice. She hates looking old and her excess of cosmetic surgery makes her look like she's wearing a Daisy Duck mask. She's candid about her vanity and can afford to please herself. How many of us can do that? Long live the Queen of Comedy!

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