Get Bruce

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 whole theater laughed at this one. A peek at a comedy writer most people have never heard of. People who are incredible snobs won't like it because, after all, this guy writes jokes for the Oscars and popular entertainers.

I happen to think Bette Middler is incredibly funny ... same for Robin Williams, etc. This guy works for these people and anyone who is not in the entertainment business will probably find it interesting to see how he does it, how he tailors his approach for each client, etc. But the payoff is the humor, watching the clips of his clients preparing material and doing it live.

what a terrible film and what a terrible man. this is one of the worst pieces of hollywood self-serving, syrupy nonsense i've ever had the misfortune to watch.

it's fair enough when the egg-producers all get together and buy "Eat more eggs" campaigns. if this is the best the Bruce Vilanch Marketing Board can come up with...

i have long thought of hollywood as being so capable of parodying itself that external parody was unnecessary and this just confirms my belief.

if i didn't know better, i'd think i was watching a Mr. Show sketch parodying Bruce Vilanch. i wish...

if you like watching sincerity so contrived it's appalling in its insincerity, 'fly on the wall' segments about the comedy process so contrived they're hard to watch and hollywood celebrities generally patting each other on the back to extreme, don't hesitate to rent this - you'll love it.

i think even the most devoted Bruce Vilanch fan will be made nauseous by the awful song that plays out over the closing credits.

Get Bruce? get lost...

I see here nobody's posted a comment about this terrific flick for almost 6 years! Shame on those who've seen it, loved it and not written. Bruce Vilanch is a walking, talking cartoon of a man, as he'd probably be the first to admit. When he locks horns with so many talents, big and not so big, magic happens.

Bruce contributes to virtually every awards program you can think of and if you laughed at all during one of these shows, there's a pretty good chance he first wrote the joke or helped punch it up. His life as a born showman took him from student theatre on the East coast to Chicago to LA and almost everywhere in between. Bette Midler, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams, to name just three, are performers who's careers would be significantly less bright if they hadn't met this patron saint of the T-shirt and biting one liner.

Bruce's emotions go all over the map in this film, from the joy and pain of gags working wonderfully well or bombing like napalm filled misfires. And his humanity is on prominent display, as his charity work gets heartbreaking attention too.

Get "Get Bruce" if you haven't already seen it!

sure, get bruce is pretty funny, but it trips a bit...the film begins with the typical "bunch of people talking about the subject." this does not work. i found myself bored and thinking i was going to make a big mistake.

"get bruce" is at its best when it shows the subject (a guy who writes jokes for celebs) at work. the scenes where bruce is working one on one with billy crystal, whoopi goldberg, robin williams, et al, are some of the laugh-out-loud funniest things i've seen in a long time. and i don't even like robin williams.

sadly, when all these portraits are done, the directors scope pans out again and tries to make general statements about the subject. here, he again fails. perhaps it would have been funnier had the filmmakers consulted bruce.

six of ten