A few features into what’s now obviously a real, genuine attempt at leaving his directorial stamp, Bobcat Goldthwait has turned towards the documentary. When it premiered at Sundance, Call Me Lucky, the story of comedian Barry Crimmins, earned plaudits that would make me think he’s transitioned comfortably — more comfortably than he was when attempting found-footage horror, fortunately.
With overwhelmingly positive reviews in its back pocket (including our own), Lucky is set to enter a limited release within the next few weeks, and there’s thus a trailer to bring along. Whatever it tells you about the project a Yahoo! profile (from where the preview springs) gives good background on the film, which bears a special significance for Goldthwait on account of the assistance his World’s Greatest Dad star, Robin Williams, provided before his tragic passing last year. With heavy subject matter to boot, it almost ensures Goldthwait’s film will be a powerhouse. Now, how crazy would that sentence have sounded just ten years ago?
Watch below:
Synopsis (via Sundance):
Barry Crimmins is pissed. His hellfire brand of comedy has rained verbal lightning bolts on American audiences and politicians for decades, yet you’ve probably never heard of him. But once you’ve experienced Bobcat Goldthwait’s brilliant character portrait of him and heard Crimmins’s secret, you will never forget him.
From his unmistakable bullish frame came a scathingly ribald stand-up style that took early audiences by force. Through stark, smart observation and judo-like turns of phrase, Crimmins’s rapid-fire comedy was a war on ignorance and complacency in ’80s America at the height of an ill-considered foreign policy.
Crimmins discusses another side of his character, revealing in detail a dark and painful past that inspired his life-changing campaign of activism in the hope of saving others from a similar experience.
Interviews with comics like Margaret Cho and Marc Maron illustrate Crimmins’s love affair with comedy and his role in discovering and supporting the development of many of today’s stars. As a venerated member of America’s comic community, Crimmins could be your newest national treasure. Just don’t tell him that. He’s not done being pissed yet. —H.C.
Call Me Lucky opens on August 7th.