I get it, most people who will watch this "documentary" are/were fans of Martin. And you know, during a time when the country desperately needed a laugh, he swooped in with his bizarre take on comedy, and made a lot of people laugh. So, good on him for being that guy. Pun intended.
The good? Rarely seen photos and footage of Martin's early days provide a glimpse into the modest beginnings of a well known performer. The bald and pained ("please turn it off, it's so bad I can't bear it") assessment by Martin of some of his early gags. The insight into what was clearly an abusive relationship with his father also lends depth to what drove him.
The less than good? That's a slippery slope. As a documentary, having a bunch of celebrity buddies offer their thoughts is questionable. It's all so gushingly positive that it quickly becomes boring. Even when he was at his zeitgeist peak, I never found the walk-like-an-Egyptian or I'm-a-wild-and-crazy-guy shtick all that funny. It made me laugh when my friends tried to do it, but genius comedy? No.
The documentary tries very hard to paint him as an iconic master of comedy. The fact that his routines haven't aged well puts the lie to that theory.
Can he act? Yes. There are three films in his catalogue that I think are great: one comedy and two serious roles. Does he resonate as an image of the late seventies and early eighties? Yes. Like other offbeat performers he developed his bits and found a niche and cashed in.
There were five moments that I thought were worth the watch: when he himself couldn't bear to watch his early frenetic stuff; when he and Martin Short were trying to write a set and were failing miserably; even on The Tonight Show Sammie Davis Jr stood up to give him a hug when he finished his set and he didn't know how to respond because "my family weren't huggers"; when his father (a class A1 jerk if ever there was one) offered the critique "well he's no Charlie Chaplin" on his movie The Jerk; and when an early girlfriend reminisced that when she broke up with him she couldn't handle his strange comedic ramblings even though she knew he wouldn't stop pursuing fame, and believed he would eventually make it happen.
