I only saw this documentary because it was one of five films on a multi film disc that I got out of the bargain bin and this wasn't the film that I was going for. Bruce Vilanch is an openly gay comedian and writer. He writes for stars especially for the Oscar Awards ceremonies for hosts like Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg. We meet his mother and learn he is adopted. He wears crazy t-shirts and has an ugly beard. I don't think he's a horrible person. He is far more open than most people were long before it was fashionable to come out of the closet. While the documentary has plenty of faults and flaws, it's enjoyable and sometimes just pointless to honor somebody like Bruce Vilanch. When you want a good comedy writer to help with the show like the Oscars, you get Bruce Vilanch to write some jokes. He has written performance pieces for Bette Midler and has been friends for decades with legendary performers. It's interesting to see his past as writing for the Brady Bunch Variety Show in the 1970s after he left Chicago to get his start in Hollywood writing.

The movie is very funny and I laughed a lot. Bruce is interesting enough and the people he is shown speaking to, are just as much fun. The Robin Williams part was especially enjoyable.

My friend got this and said he heard rave things about the movie. We sat down to watch it, and in 45 minutes, nobody laughed. It was horrible. Bruce Vilanch's humor is canned, non-spontaneous, and chuckingly topical. When he says he goes to an area and scans a newspaper to make jokes and prepare his humor, it really makes me think of him as a speechwriter rather than a comic. Everyone says the best part of the movie is Robin Williams, and that's obvious-- Robin Williams is funny. Hairy, but funny. Bruce is hairy and not funny. It was a great contrast to two people of two completely different styles.

If you have any doubt about Bruce's lamebrained, canned humor, watch Hollywood Squares, and notice how the questions are carefully pitched right towards him for maximum comedic effect. What's worse is that he sits next to Whoopi, and she's equally as bad.

It's terrible when you're hoping Ted Danson will show up in Blackface just to make something more interesting.