Comedian

Director Christian Charles and a camera crew followed the legendary stand-up comedian Jerry Seinfeld around and documented his return to his roots following the end of his sitcom. Here, Seinfeld finds it a struggle to build a new act from scratch after retiring the material with which he'd made his name. He is compared and contrasted with a determined up-and-comer named Orny Adams, who was, shall we say, obsessed with his career and set on becoming The Next Big Thing.

"Comedian" is no great shakes, but it's still quite agreeable, and would certainly have more resonance for any person who's felt a compulsive need to entertain others. It's a loose, informal documentary that simply observes Seinfeld, Adams, and others as they work on their material. And therein lies the struggle of any comedian: carefully developing their material so it has the maximum impact. What's truly nice about "Comedian" is seeing Seinfeld discuss with a variety of peers - Garry Shandling, Chris Rock, Ray Romano, Colin Quinn, Bill Cosby, Jay Leno, etc. - the nature of the business, and the art of making people laugh.

We do get to see brief snippets of Seinfeld and other comics as they do their acts, but first and foremost "Comedian" is a portrayal of their artistic processes. On that level, it is pretty interesting. It's never really about inducing belly laughs, but it does offer some insight into a particular brand of entertainment.

Seven out of 10.