Lenny (1974)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Bob Fosse

Writers:

Julian Barry (play)
Julian Barry (screenplay)

Release Date:

10 November 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

Lenny's Time Has Finally Come!

Plot:

The story of acerbic 1960s comic Lenny Bruce, whose groundbreaking, no-holds-barred style and social commentary was often deemed by the Establisment as too obscene for the public.

Plot Keywords:

Comedian | Stand Up Comedian | Heroin | Husband Wife Relationship | Judge

Awards:

Nominated for 6 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 8 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. July 23

4:35 AM

MAX

Cast

Dustin Hoffman	...	Lenny Bruce
Valerie Perrine	...	Honey Bruce
Jan Miner	...	Sally Marr
Stanley Beck	...	Artie Silver
Frankie Man	...	Baltimore Comic
Rashel Novikoff	...	Aunt Mema
Gary Morton	...	Sherman Hart
Guy Rennie	...	Jack Goldstein
Michele Yonge	...	Nurse
Kathryn Witt	...	Girl (as Kathie Witt)
Monroe Myers	...	Hawaiin Judge
John DiSanti	...	John Santi
Mickey Gatlin	...	San Francisco Policeman
Martin Begley	...	San Francisco Judge
Mark Harris	...	Defense Attorney

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 (video re-rating) (2003) | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | New Zealand:R18 | Iceland:L | Finland:K-16 (1987) | Finland:K-18 (1975) | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Australia:R | Spain:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:18A | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Miami Beach, Florida, USA

Company:

Marvin Worth Productions

Trivia:

Raquel Welch was offered the role of Honey Bruce. She turned the part down, because she thought she could not play it.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: During the movie's opening monologue, Lenny says that it's 1964 and then references the MDA Telethon, which debuted in 1966.

Quotes:

Lenny Bruce: The problem is we always expect women to be a combination sunday school teacher, and $500-a-night hooker!

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

Soundtrack:

Tempus Fugit

Well Made But Dismally Depressing

This biopic about shock comedian Lenny Bruce was Bob Fosse's followup to his well-received 1972 film "Cabaret." I'm pretty sure that "Lenny" was a financial bomb, and I'm not surprised. It's a relentlessly depressing and ugly film, despite the stylish polish Fosse gives it. Anyone who has seen Fosse's last film, "Star 80," knows just how nihilistic this director could be, and "Lenny" shows evidence of that.

It is a fascinating film though, in its own way. Fosse uses a documentary-like approach, complete with black and white photography and a narrative device in which we see Bruce's long-suffering love (played heartbreakingly by Valerie Perrine, Lex Luthor's bikini-clad girlfriend in "Superman" [1978]) telling Bruce's story to a filmmaker while the actual events themselves are played out as flashbacks. Fosse was fond of this confessional type of storytelling and would use it again in "All That Jazz" (1979). Dustin Hoffman is simply sensational as Bruce; he utterly disappears into this caustic character until no trace of Hoffman the actor is left. Technically, everything about the film is highly accomplished, but it's so desolately grim as to be off putting.

Grade: B+