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About the Movie
Oscar® Winner Robert De Niro gives a mesmerizing performance in Martin Scorsese’s timeless, darkly funny satire as Rupert Pupkin, a deranged comedian who will go to any length to gain the spotlight. Teaming with an equally imbalanced woman (Sandra Bernhard), Pupkin kidnaps his idol, jaded TV talk show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis). The ransom? Pupkin gets one appearance on Langford’s show.
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Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
90%- Reviews Counted: 50
- Fresh: 45
- Rotten: 5
- Average Rating: 8.2/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: It's very funny, and it ends on a high note that was, for me, both a total surprise and completely satisfying. Yet it's also bristly, sometimes manic to the edge of lunacy and, along the way, terrifying.
Fresh: It's Martin Scorsese's second least popular movie, after The Last Temptation of Christ. Which is a shame, because it's Scorsese's second greatest film, after Taxi Driver.
Fresh: Brilliantly keeps viewers unmoored, the result of its consistently off-kilter tone.
Fresh: Scorsese infuses this tale with the passionate energy of New York street life and an outsider's wonder at the powerful workings of show business and studio craft.
Customer Reviews
Great film
De Niro is amazing (and amazingly irritating) in this quirky Scorcese gem. I'm not surprised it isn't so popular (too quirky and irritating!) but I've watched it 3 or 4 times and will happily watch again. Jerry Lewis plays the straight man for once. And it is an all-too-depressing illustration of America's obsession with celebrity, and predicted the "famous for being famous" trash celebrity culture of Kardashians et al.
Crazy Good...
Before I saw this movie, I thought DeNiro's best work had been in "This Boy's Life." But in "The King Of Comedy," he might be even better. He's just a great actor.
Excellent film.
"The King of Comedy" is genius. De Niro is perfect, unlike anything he's ever done. But the film itself makes you feel uncomfortable the lengths people will go to for "success". And it's oddly inspiring for the exact same reason. Scorsese is awesome.
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- $9.99
- Genre: Comedy
- Released: 1983
- © 1982 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
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