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Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
A fan tribute laced with carefully placed barbs of insider tell-all, this admiring portrait of Joan Rivers—which follows its subject over the course of a year—seems expressly calculated to win over those who associate the pioneering comedienne primarily with her pre-Oscar non sequiturs and voicework in Spaceballs. On that score, it succeeds: ’60s and ’70s clips showcase Rivers in her edgiest phase, and the movie does inspire respect for Rivers’s longevity in comedy (if not always for her inconsistent jokes). It’s also weirdly poignant to see the star shlep off to perform at a far-flung Wisconsin resort because she says the price is right—or perhaps, as the film argues, because she simply feels a compulsion to work. It might be the only venue where she still gets hecklers.
It’s difficult to say whether A Piece of Work becomes funnier because the material gets better or because Rivers is good at wearing down defenses. Either way, the filmmakers are too in awe of Rivers to mount a serious analysis of her craft, apart from an intriguing interlude in which she preps to deliver remarks at a George Carlin tribute. Mostly, Stern and Sundberg let their subject riff, watching her as she works through a show in London and stars in a Celebrity Apprentice role. The one-liners do the heavy lifting; it’s the documentary equivalent of canned borscht.
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