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Is it worth $10? Yes
Some know Joan Rivers as a comedian, or as the woman who guest-hosted for Johnny Carson for years. Younger generations know her as a plastic surgery nightmare and Oscar hostess. But trust me when I tell you that the documentary “Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work” tells you more about Rivers than you ever wanted to know, and the results are surprisingly honest, raw and fascinating.
Filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg followed Rivers for one year – the 76th year of her life – and candidly show her struggles, fears, successes and failures. The film opens with Rivers in the make up chair, a symbolic suggestion that there are many layers to her that are about to be revealed.
Her stand up act and a discussion of plastic surgery, including how she was a forerunner of it before becoming the running joke of it, are expected. But few know that she tried and failed to open a play based on her life, that she and daughter Melissa, while close, bicker constantly, and that she really didn’t want to do “The Celebrity Apprentice,” which she won.
Other surprises abound: Rivers reveals that she only went into comedy so she could be an actress, and that acting is her true passion. She works hard and lives well, but is also so generous with her staff that she sends staffers’ children to private schools. There’s also a moving section about her guest-hosting Carson’s “Tonight Show,” her brief stint with her own late-night show on Fox, and her husband Edgar’s involvement in her career.
In the end, Rivers – who has no interest in retiring – comes across as an iconic female comedian (Kathy Griffin’s words, not mine), and the movie is a very insightful look at her work and career. Smartly, Stern and Sundberg don’t try to cram in too much back story, and yet at 84 minutes “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” gives us more than we ever expected.
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