Billy Crystal creates an unforgettable masterpiece of a characterization with comedian Buddy Young, a funny man for all ages. Not that he's that funny all the time, but we do see him at all the stages of his long life that now is on the decline. Mr. Saturday Night makes it all viewable by borrowing a technique from Citizen Kane.

If Billy is not waking up and smelling the coffee his brother David Paymer is. The brothers were originally a duo, but Paymer decided that performing in front of a live audience just was not for him. In fact it almost wasn't for Buddy Young. But when Jason Marsden put down his first heckler with a great insult comeback, he knew this was the life for he grew up to be Billy Crystal.

Paymer became his agent and did that for forty years representing Crystal exclusively. It worked well kind of like Bing Crosby who brought his whole family of brothers and sisters into the business of Bing Crosby. But now Paymer wants to retire and spend time with the grandkids. But Crystal can't see himself doing anything else but performing.

Times and public tastes have changed and even though Crystal has put a lot of what used to be called blue material in his act, he still doesn't have the appeal he once had.

Mr. Saturday Night should be seen with Marjorie Morningstar because both protagonists start out in the famous Catskill Borscht Belt circuit. Unlike Gene Kelly's character of Noel Airman who can't make that leap into the big time, Crystal's Buddy Young does break into that second tier of comedians who were good in their day, but never achieved first rank. Forty years in the business, Crystal is still looking for that one big break that will make him a comic immortal. Like Jerry Lewis who started in the same circuit and who Crystal meets at the Friar's one day.

If Crystal has an epitaph is that while he loved wife Julie Warner and daughter Mary Mara a lot, his true love was the audience. Helen Hunt has a nice role as an agent who genuinely tries to help as does Jerry Orbach who is the head of said agency who Crystal knew way back when.

Mr. Saturday Night got one Oscar nomination for David Paymer as best Supporting Actor. The brothers have a curious symbiotic relationship and neither really functions well without the other. Paymer gives a controlled and restrained performance in contrast to Crystal who is always 'on' due to the nature of his character. Paymer just wants at some point to know there is life away from show business.

This is a fine film with Crystal really pulling out all comic and dramatic stops to give us Buddy Young. How good is this film, as Buddy Young would say, 'don't let me get started on that'.

Anyone who's paid attention to cinema knows who Billy Crystal is. Whether he's the wisecracker who occasionally hosts the Academy Awards, or the star of breezy comedy flicks, he's a perfectly recognizable face. But what you might not know is that in 1992, he directed and starred in a serious movie. "Mr. Saturday Night" casts him as a comedian long past his prime. Watching the movie, I got the feeling that the character was a composite of several noted comedians from the '50s. He's the sort of character who shifts between amicable and rude in one breath.

I guess that the movie's point is that there's no way to stay at the top forever, especially with how quickly things change (note the scene of "The Ed Sullivan Show"). Nonetheless, the movie does shift between comedy and drama; is there a way for Crystal not to be funny when he has the chance? You're sure to laugh at the scenes where he performs in front of audiences.

David Paymer received an Oscar nod for his role as the protagonist's exasperated brother and agent. He's an actor who doesn't get the recognition that he deserves. In a better world, this movie would've turned him into one of the most sought-after people in entertainment.

Anyway, the movie isn't a masterpiece, but worth seeing. Watch for appearances of Helen Hunt, Jerry Orbach, Richard Kind (Meemaw's friend on "Young Sheldon" and Bing Bong's voice in "Inside Out") and in a cameo, Jerry Lewis.

Billy Crystal co-wrote, produced, directed and stars in this sentiment-laden Neil Simon knock-off about a Jewish comedian in the late 1950's who becomes a television staple in the '60's, and an aged grouch in the present day. David Paymer tries hard in the doormat role of Crystal's put-upon older brother, but he and Crystal spend too much time in hokey old age make-up, bickering back and forth like in a road company version of "The Sunshine Boys". The movie looks good, with fine Don Peterman cinematography, but it attempts to combine nostalgia with stereotypical Jewish humor and half-hearted pathos--never cutting back on the insults and quips--for a static, unremarkable result. *1/2 from ****