Directed by: Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio
George Carlin's voice is still relevant fourteen years after his death. Republicans and Democrats both claim him as their patron saint. Republicans see him as a beacon of freedom of expression, while Democrats point out his distaste for the pro-life movement and organized religion. What's telling in the waning minutes of the two-part documentary George Carlin's American Dream is how Carlin's words somehow foreshadowed the tumultuous political landscape we occupy today. We hear audio of his famous bits playing over footage of various events which have occurred since his death. How I would love to hear what he has to say about today's political climate. Carlin's passing in 2008 at age 71 has left a void the world of comedy is still trying to fill. Good luck with that.
For my money, Carlin is the greatest standup comedian of all time. It wasn't just that he was funny, but he dared the audience to think. He never condescended, nor never treated his audience as dumb, and presented issues long before they were introduced in the mainstream. His stance on pro-lifers from over thirty years ago rings eerily true today. His takes on religion and the pro-life movement are both irreverent and apply logic where it wasn't necessarily applied before. Carlin was one to ask questions and find amusing truths among the answers. He challenged his audience to do the same and not simply to accept what the media or anyone else is presenting as fact.
American Dream provides us a chronology of Carlin's life from a childhood with an abusive father and an alcoholic mother to his first days testing the waters as a standup. His was clean-shaven, wore a suit and tie, and looked like just about every other comedian you would see on television back then. He teamed with another comic, Jack Burns, and they had success for a while. Soon, he and Burns split and Carlin experienced modest success while the Vietnam War raged on. Carlin's personal beliefs about the war soon came into conflict with his appearance as a straight-arrow comic. In the late 1960's, Carlin eschewed the suit and tie, grew a beard, let his hair grow longer, and began challenging the status quo. This would be the first of several transformations Carlin would undergo in his life.
Drugs soon entered the picture for he and his wife Brenda, while their daughter Kelly (featured prominently here) had to witness and at times play referee to a coke-addicted father and an alcoholic mother who nearly died. Kelly at one point during a Hawaii vacation had to force his parents to sign a contract not to imbibe or take drugs so they could have a happy time during the few days they spent in Hawaii. Like Kelly, American Dream articulately shows us the flawed, sometimes troubled, always brilliant George Carlin. Peers such as Jerry Seinfeld, Stephen Colbert, Chris Rock, Kevin Smith, Alex Winter, and Patton Oswalt present in-depth observations about what made Carlin stand out without turning the doc into hagiography. Carlin himself is able to express his frustrating inability to show his feelings until he would either explode or quell them further with drugs. The darker material which encompassed the last few years of his life is also touched on. With audio clips and snippets of past television interviews plus extended minutes devoted to his greatest standup work, George Carlin's American Dream gives us a rare look at a comic genius who continues to give to us.
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