Engrossing documentary that's a must for any fan of the art of stand-up, Comedian is let down only by allowing the (fascinating) Orny Adams strand to disappear without warning 3/4 into the film. Juxtaposing his and Seinfeld's approach to joke writing and performing, while seeing them speaking to great comedians about their craft and exhibiting what a jobbing comic's life is really like, means it tries to cram so much into its paltry 80-minute runtime you're left wanting much more.

it would have been much much better if it had only Seinfeld and not the other guy.

Comedian (2002) is documentary about, not surprisingly, comedians. Well, actually it is mostly about Jerry Seinfeld trying to build a new act after retiring all his old material in 1998. I enjoyed all the bits that include Seinfeld. It was pretty interesting to hear him talk about the comedy business, his family life, and the comedians that he idolizes.

It's an interesting peek behind the scenes of standup comedy. It isn't a comical or very accessible film per se. Having Jerry Seinfeld in it makes it sound like it should have mainstream appeal, but it doesn't. You will find this valuable if you're particularly interested in the behind-the-scenes machinations of standup comedy, in what the profession is like for comedians.

Unsurprisingly, the Seinfeld parts were pretty good, and the parts with that douchebag were not so good. I get the feeling that there wasn't quite enough content featuring the rebuilding of Seinfeld's act to fill an entire movie, which is fine, but I was totally uninterested in this secondary character they chose to introduce.

man, comedians are really joyless people. goddamn.

'Comedian' feels a lot like sitting in on a conversation between some very successful comedians. What's most interesting is that they all still have a fear that they're one bad joke away from losing everything. It's that fear that drives them to continue on, but almost prevents them from doing it at all. The juxtaposition between Seinfeld and Orny Adams makes it appealing. Jerry is experienced and knows that he has to work to improve. Orny blames those around him for his lack of success.

I think the point of showing Orny Adams or whatever was to say that both for Seinfield and Orny, nothing is ever good enough. But Seinfield is more mature, he realizes, through Cosby and others, what he has to do to build a sense of satisfaction and not one of doubt.

It's actually kind of sad to see how many people will dedicate their lives just to being witty. I find myself thinking of Oscar Wilde's observation, "Wit should be the salt of conversation, not the food"

Mediocre as a documentary. For a film about Seinfeld, it doesn't have enough Seinfeld in it. Especially in the first half, where it keeps cutting to Orny Adams. The second half is better, with more interviews with Seinfeld and footage of his off-stage conversations with Jay Leno, Bill Cosby, etc. Seinfeld comes off both as an ingenious comedian and as a sincere and humble person. The worst thing was that there was at most 5 minutes of actual Seinfeld stand-up footage, which left me wanting more.

Not a strong documentary, but still a pretty fascinating look behind the scenes in stand up comedy.

Unfocused and spends too much time with the lamoid comic. Uneven, but not without value.

If this was shorter, had more Seinfeld or had more jokes, it would've been really good.

Jeez--really hard to see what was the point of this thing. Did Seinfeld need the advertising?--did the other guy need to flush himself?

Boring..

Not perfect by any means, but it is a fairly revealing look at the backstage life of stand-up, and the often excruciatingly painful process of writing a good joke. It offers a really well-balanced view on this life by juxtaposing Seinfeld, the image of success, with fledgling failure Orny Adams, whose ego is burning bridges before he's even crossed them. It spends a little too much time doing this, however, and as a result runs a little long. There aren't enough laughs, either.