Recently, I was looking for showtimes for another movie when I discovered that the documentary “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” was screening at the AFI Film Fest in Hollywood. I am a big fan of Albert Brooks. I love his comedy CDs (not sure how many he released but I have a couple), I’m a fan of all the movies he wrote and directed (my favorite is “Defending Your Life”) and a lot of the of the movies and TV shows he acted in, and I enjoyed reading his novel. So, I decided to postpone the other movie and go see this documentary. I’m so glad that I got a chance to see it in a movie theater. It was funnier than I expected, and the movie tells some really interesting stories about his life. Some of the stories are almost unbelievable.
The basic premise of the documentary is Albert Brooks and his longtime friend Rob Reiner (who directed it) are eating at a restaurant and discussing his life and career. As they’re talking, the documentary shows photos and videos of his past including clips from his comedy bits, short films, and movies. Plus, there’s interviews with many of his friends, family, and people that admire him.
Their conversation is fairly chronological starting with when Albert Einstein (yes, that’s Albert Brooks real name – and he has a couple jokes about it) met Rob Reiner in high school. Even at 16 years old, Albert was already doing comedy bits for friends and family. That led to the start of his career when he performed short comedy bits on talk shows and variety shows in the 1970s. He appeared on several shows including “The Dean Martin Show”, “The Ed Sullivan show”, “Milton Berle’s Mad Mad Mad World of Comedy”, “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson”, and “Late Night with David Letterman”. There are interviews with several comedians including Jon Stewart, Conan O’Brien, David Letterman, and Chris Rock who say Alberts comedy bits on those shows were some of the best on television.
The next part of their conversation is about Alberts parents – actor/writer/comedian Harry Einstein and singer/actress Thelma Leeds (she was in a couple of Alberts movies), Alberts stand-up comedy career, and the short films that Albert made for television shows like Saturday Night Live. The short films he made eventually led to his first feature length film “Real Life”.
The next thing that Albert and Rob discuss are the movies that Albert wrote/directed/starred in. Albert talks about working with Monica Mcgowan Johnson who co-wrote 4 of his movies. In between working on his own movies, Albert also acted in several other movies and TV shows such as “Taxi Driver” (his very first role in a movie), “Broadcast News” (which got him an Academy Award nomination), “Finding Nemo”, “The Simpsons” TV show and movie (he was the voice of quite a few characters in “The Simpsons”), and playing a somewhat realistic version of himself on “Curb Your Enthusiasm”.
Towards the end of their conversation, Albert mentions his novel “2030: The Real Story Of What Happens To America”. One of the last things they discuss is his family. The documentary has interviews with his wife, son, and daughter.
I intentionally didn’t describe the comedy bits shown and the stories told in the documentary because I think that would spoil it for you, but here’s a very small taste. (SPOILER ALERT).
- The very first time his name was mentioned on TV was when Rob Reiner’s father Carl Reiner mentioned him on The Tonight Show. Carl said that 16-year-old Albert Einstein made him laugh harder than anyone has ever made him laugh.
- Albert helped create “Saturday Night Live”. At first, NBC and Lorne Michaels asked him to host a weekly variety show, but he suggested they have different host every week. Then he told them he wanted to make short films for the show.
- Albert made some short films with STEVEN SPIELBERG. Spielberg would film Albert asking random questions to people on the street. This documentary has an interview with Steven Spielberg and they show a few short clips.
- Albert was at a party at Carrie Fishers house where he met Meryl Streep. He talked to her about his next movie, and she said, “Is there anything for me?” That’s how she ended up starring in his movie “Defending Your Life”.
- Albert and his son talk about when his son wacthed “Finding Nemo” for the first time. Specifically, his reaction to the opening scene where the mother get killed.
(END OF SPOILERS)
I would have given this documentary 10 stars, but I removed half a star for a couple of reasons. The first is that I wish he talked a little bit about his late brother who was known as “Super Bob”. There was a documentary about him called “The Super Bob Einstein Movie” that came out in 2021. Albert Brooks was in that documentary, but I believe they only mention Bob very briefly in this documentary. The couldn’t interview his brother because he passed away a few years ago.
The second thing that sort of feels weird to me as the documentary goes on is everyone saying how great Albert Brooks is. David Letterman, Larry David, Conan O’Brien, Jon Stewart, James L Brooks, Judd Aptow, Ben Stiller, Steven Spielberg, and several others talk about funny and creative he is. I started to think that maybe some of the people not interviewed – such as Meryl Streep and Martin Scorsese – didn’t say he was great, so they were cut out. I would have been OK with some people giving not so great comments. In fact, I wish this documentary was longer. I’m sure there were several things that they discussed that were edited out.
However, I still HIGHLY RECOMMEND it. If you only know Albert Brooks for being the voice in “Finding Nemo” and “Finding Dory”, you’ll find out so much more about him that will make you laugh, and I think you’ll find the stories about his life really interesting like I did. After the movie you may search for his comedy bits, or his comedy CDs, or the movies he wrote and directed, or his novel. If you’re looking for more things about him, I recommend you start with his website (www.albertbrooks.com). I’m sure if he was making the short films and comedy bits right now, he would be really popular on YouTube or the comedy websites like “Funny or Die”. Some of the videos that are on those websites are similar to what he made years ago. That’s why many consider him one of the biggest comedy legends ever.
One note – the documentary does have brief nudity, a little bit of violence (from one of the movies he starred in), drug use, and adult language, so it’s not suitable for young children.
I’m not sure if there will be any more screenings in movie theaters of the documentary but I know it will be on HBO and on the MAX streaming channel starting Nov 11. If there is another screening of the documentary after the actors’ strike is over, I will try to be there. Albert Brooks and Rob Reiner didn’t speak before or after the screening I went to due to the actors’ strike (although there were rumors that one or both attended the screening). I really wish that they had a Q&A.
Overall: 9.5 OUT OF 10 STARS
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