I kinda of missed this one in the cinemas, but am glad to had the chance to watch it recently. I am a fan of Taylor Hackford you could say, seeing that I hold one of his movies in the highest regard. But it is not just one movie that I think is good, he has proven mutliple times what a good director he is. And the fact he got a cast like this together is saying something.

Some performances may be low key and it may be weird seeing De Niro in a mean funny way, but still having an emotional core. He has a lot to learn (his character that is),which makes the movie instead of breaking it. That doesn't mean there are no flaws, but overall this is well told, from the character point of view but also from the growth he takes. Agree or disagree with action taken by characters, the movie stays true to itself.

It's probably fair to say that if Robert De Niro was a stand up comic, he's be just as acerbic and insulting as Jackie Burke. His most recent outbursts in the media pretty much capture the same character as he portrays here, foul mouth and all. Maybe it's a case of life imitating art, but I don't think so. De Niro even gets in a crack about Donald Trump when he insults the couple in that comedy club scene. This came out in 2016, so he must have hated Trump even before he became President.

I'd be hard pressed to call this a comedy. Some of the situations warrant it but the dialog often goes way beyond the pale. The one thing that I thought was consistently good throughout was anytime Jackie and Harmony Schiltz (Leslie Mann) were on screen together. Their conversation sounded completely natural and unpretentious. I also like the way the picture was peppered with real comedians under their own names, folks like Jimmie Walker, Richard Belzer, Brett Butler and Jim Norton to name a few. It all added to the credibility of a story about a former TV sit-com star trying to break out of that persona to establish his real alter-ego.

Overall though, it's a bit heavy handed, with Jackie's unfiltered quips and observations offending audiences and irritating the people closest to him. Which made me wonder if Billy Crystal might have really meant it coming off the elevator when he remarked - "What a schmuck."

Former TV sitcom star-turned-insult comic in New York City is left without booking prospects after he assaults a heckler at an out-of-town club; he spends 30 days in jail (for contempt of court) and must perform 100 hours of community service at a soup kitchen, where he meets an attractive but stressed-out lady with similar anger management issues. Impeccably cast character-comedy featuring a terrific ensemble supporting star Robert De Niro (doing savvy, acerbic work). Edie Falco is De Niro's humorless manager, Danny DeVito is a welcome sight playing De Niro's brother, Patti LuPone is a hoot as Danny's disgusted wife, Leslie Mann is an appealing love-interest (with a hard shell) and Harvey Keitel as Mann's steely-eyed father has an edgy, amazing scene with De Niro in his restaurant. This world of aging comics, living on their faded glories, is sharply-captured, with all the requisite humiliations intact. The film is a dirty-fingered valentine to show biz, an accurately sour love note to the 'profession' of being a once-was. It isn't pretty...but then, comedy isn't pretty. **1/2 from ****