Lenny | Stanley Beck, George de Witt

Lenny | Stanley Beck, George de Witt | Lenny on videotape

DVDs:

Lenny

	Lenny Stanley Beck, George de Witt MGM (Video & DVD), 2002 average customer review:based on 36 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Two-time OscarÂ(r) winner* Dustin Hoffman brings controversial 60s comedian Lenny Bruce tolife in this landmark (Variety) film that earned six OscarÂ(r) nominations,** including Best Picture. A jagged portrait of a man driven to mainlining honesty into the arteries of a hypocritical culture (Newsweek), Lenny is artful, imaginative (Los Angeles Times) and truly an extraordinary film (Saturday Review)! From his first gig as a nervous Catskillcomedian, it's obvious that Lenny Bruce is a force to be reckoned with. Armed with a shocking routine and a stripper as his muse (Valerie Perrine), Lenny turns comedyand Americaon its ear with his abrasive and often offensive humor. But life in the smoke-filled bars of the comedy circuit begins to take its toll. The drugs and arrests for his subject matter wear heavily on this maverick crusader but don't stop him from pushing the envelope right to his tragic and myth-making end. *1988: Actor, Rain Man; 1979: Actor, Kramer vs. Kramer **1974: Actor (Hoffman), Actress (Perrine), Director, Screenplay Adapted from Other Material, Cinematography

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Lenny

Hoffman fully inhabits the tortured genius of Lenny Bruce, a performer whose scathingly funny routines seem fairly tame by today's standards, but which, in the proper, conforming fifties and early sixties, offended the establishment sufficiently to prompt multiple arrests for obscenity. Valerie Perrine delivers vivid support as Bruce's cheesy stripper wife, Honey, as much a victim of the times--and drugs--as Bruce himself. "Lenny" is a rare non-musical triumph for director Fosse, who was Oscar-nominated, along with Hoffman and Perrine. This gritty picture still packs a wallop.

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Lenny on videotape

Excellent condition, great price. Technology changes, great art doesn't. Bob Fosse and Dustin Hoffman for pennies -- videotape is better and cheaper than ever!

Hot Honey Harlow

I think this movie is great! I have purchased a Baker's dozen for my friends. I married Honey Bruce in 1984, here in Honolulu (husband number two). I first had the pleasure of meeting Honey in 1974 in San Anselmo, California. That summer, I was playing the bass guitar in a rock n' roll band for a fellow by the name of MiddleJohn. Middle and I were living in a ranch house directly across the street from where Honey was making her home. I was sleeping in my 1971 Dodge Sportsman camper Van which I parked at the end of the street.
One lazy afternoon, I had set up my amplifier on the front porch of the house. Plugged in my bass guitar and was playing bass riffs. Honey was across the street doing her gardening. She came over and introduced herself to me and showed me a photo of her daughter Kitty in TIME magazine. Honey invired me over her house and into her livingroom. We became very good friends. Honey kept trying to get me to play bass along with a record of her's on her stereo - Alice Stuart.
I dragged my amplifier into her livingroom and played the bass away. I was pretty good. That was thirty-five years ago. As you can imagine I have many stories to share but time is limited. Please visit my website at [...] - The music says it all! Peace & Love, Jeffrey W. Friedman (Honolulu)

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Lenny Bruce was not only first, but he was different.

For a film that's over 30 years old, this looks great. What helps matters is that it's black and white, which is easier to clean up in the post production process. Really though, it looks like it could have been filmed last year. Dustin Hoffman channels Lenny Bruce in a film directed by Bob Fosse. Yes it's a weird thing, there's no denying that. Bob Fosse, who was better known for his choreography (Chicago, Cabaret), turned to directing as another outlet of his creative forces. As for Hoffman, looking at his body of work makes this role in particular standout. I'm surprised that he chose to play Bruce, an outspoken, angry man. After all, Hoffman is usually more the weirdo or mealy-mouthed villain. Then again, what was Bruce if not a slightly weird guy, who ultimately was shy except when he inhabited the stage.

Lenny Bruce was the driving force behind making comedy into the socially challenging medium it is today. The structure is episodes of his life tied together with commentary from his agent, his wife (played by Valerie Perrine), and other important characters in his life. Lenny was one of the original dirty mouthed comedians, but with a point. He was taking on the establishment, and the hypocrisy of contemporary society. He was arrested and tried several times on obscenity charges, for things like using the word c**sucker during a public performance. He also had a problem with drug abuse, largely due to the influence of his addict wife. She was a headline stripper when they met, and he was a young comedian. Bruce died never really seeing the fruits of his passion.

Fosse was an accomplished director, managing to channel some mavericks of his own in the direction of this movie. With its loose cutting style and drifting camera, the film at points feels like a Cassavete's film and this style works perfectly with the subject matter. Because of this, Lenny has a pure authenticity that's impossible to shake. There never feels like a false moment and Hoffman is particularly great (he was nominated for this role.) All of Lenny's acts are performed nearly verbatim, and all the court and interview transcripts are pulled from his life. Given that Bruce was a man under constant surveillance while he performed, so that the recordings could be used against him in court, allowing these same words to redeem him is Lenny's greatest accomplishment. Even if he doesn't know it, Lenny was right all along. I honestly enjoyed this film and like to thank JoeyD. for recommend it to me.

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Lenny

If you want a bio, it's informative, and as I understand it, honest, as Lenny Bruce was not considered by many as great, but his passion for free speech is commendable, I think. As a movie, it focuses too much on the couple, and at times, I needed to step back and breath.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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