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Joan Rivers: a Piece of Work

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Joan Rivers: a Piece of Work

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Summary

Tongue-in-cheek documentary following the comedian over the course of a year as she makes a last-ditch effort to reinvent herself and maintain her showbiz reputation. The programme provides an insight into the ruthless side of the entertainment industry, as well as Joan's comedic processes and the self-doubt and anger that often fuels them

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Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

David Brown

Comedian Joan Rivers tells us that nobody has ever described her as beautiful. In archive footage, Johnny Carson argues that men prefer intelligence over beauty, to which Joan replies, "No man has ever put his hand up a woman's dress looking for a library card." It's a relatively mild one-liner (by Joan's standards, anyway), but one that perfectly sums up a performer able to lacerate herself far more effectively than any critic. This extraordinary documentary follows 14 months in Joan's life during the late 2000s and reveals her to be a fretful but essentially likeable personality who spends her entire existence railing against retirement. The treatment she receives from directors Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg is sympathetic but never hagiographic, with Joan's quest for validation within the entertainment industry ensuring that the result is a potent mix of rage, doubt and unvarnished truths.

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7.4/10

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Credits

Crew

rolenameDirectorRicki SternDirectorAnnie Sundberg

Details

Released on

2010-01-01

Languages

English

Guidance

Swearing.

Available on

DVD

Formats

Colour

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