An aging comic icon, Jackie Burke, has seen better days. Despite his efforts to reinvent himself and his comic genius, the audience only wants to know him as the former television character he once played. Already a strain on his younger brother and his wife, Jackie is forced to serve out a sentence doing community service for accosting an audience member. While there, he meets Harmony, the daughter of a sleazy Florida real estate mogul, and the two find inspiration in one another, resulting in surprising consequences.
Acting
De Niro's volcanic stand-up rage feels uncomfortably lived-in.
Writing
Insults so vicious they deserve their own writing credit.
Director
Taylor Hackford
Robert De Niro
Jackie Burke
Leslie Mann
Harmony Schiltz
Danny DeVito
Jimmy Berkowitz
Edie Falco
Miller
Harvey Keitel
Mac Schiltz
Charles Grodin
Dick D'Angelo
Patti LuPone
Florence Berkowitz
Cloris Leachman
May Conner
Veronica Ferres
Karola
Lois Smith
Miriam
Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
Lucy DeVito
Brittany Berkowitz
Jim Norton
Jim Norton
Jimmie Walker
Jimmie Walker
Brett Butler
Brett Butler
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
De Niro shadowed real NYC comics for months and performed unannounced sets at the Comedy Cellar to nail the timing.
The film bombed partly because audiences expected a laugh-fest and got a melancholic character study about creative irrelevance — basically the movie's own theme.
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