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Misery Loves Comedy | 2015 | NR | - 4.2.9

A documentary look at what inspired over fifty comedians and filmmakers to do what they do and if it is true that being miserable makes one funny. With Kathleen Madigan, Amy Schumer, Tom Hanks, Jimmy Fallon, Christopher Guest, Jim Gaffigan, Janeane Garofalo, Steve Coogan and Larry David. Directed by Kevin Pollak. The film is dedicated to Robin Williams. [1:34]

SEX/NUDITY 4 - We see a photograph of a man sitting between two fully nude women (we see the women from the back and their backs, buttocks and legs are visible). We see a photograph of a woman on a stage wearing pasties on her bare breasts and skimpy panties. A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. A photo of a man shows him with his shirt open and his bare chest and abdomen are seen. A woman wears a low-cut top that reveals cleavage and her bare abdomen.
 A man talks about a joke that includes a woman in a brothel performing oral sex on a man. A reference is made to a singles sex farm in Japan. A man talks about a 12-year old guy with breasts. A man talks about having masturbated in church to see what would happen. A man talks about his father's infidelity. A woman says of her dead husband, "I hope he had enough sex."

VIOLENCE/GORE 2 - We see a photograph of a man wearing a "Phantom of the Opera" mask and the skin on his face appears reddened and scarred (presumably stage makeup).
 A man talks about his grandfather and that after speaking to him, four hours later, he was dead. A woman talks about her dog dying because of something she did and that it fell to its death. A woman says, "It's my job to yell at drunks." A man says, "I was chewed up and spit out." A man talks about grade school humiliations. A man talks about an audience contemplating how to kill him. A man makes a joke about a friend of his who has muscular dystrophy. We understand that the father of one man being interviewed committed suicide. We understand that the husband of a woman being interviewed died tragically. A man talks about a joke including the phrase, "I'm gonna bite your foot off" and then, "I'm gonna bite your [anatomical term deleted] off." A woman talks about being in a psych ward. Several people talk about having bombed while on stage. A man says that an audience member told him to, "Go home and gargle with razor blades." A man talks about an audience member throwing their prosthetic leg onto a stage while he was performing and then incorporating it into his bit. A woman talks about people beating each other up in an audience. A comment is made about vomiting emotions on stage. A man talks about having panic attacks on stage.

LANGUAGE 9 - About 41 F-words and its derivatives (a man's ring is shown with the letters WTF), 1 obscene hand gesture, 8 sexual references, 24 scatological terms, 15 anatomical terms, 4 mild obscenities, name-calling (sarcastic, goofy, pervert, weird, fawning idiot, ugly undatable, misfit, sheep, lemmings, hippie-dippie), 2 religious profanities (GD), 6 religious exclamations (e.g. God, Jesus, Oh My God).

SUBSTANCE USE - A remark is made about comedy being like a drug and an addiction, people talk about drugs (crystal meth, opiates, anti-depressants, heroin and weed are mentioned), and a woman talks about her husband doing opiates. A remark is made about booze, a remark is made about drunks, a photograph shows a man and a woman with mixed drinks on the table near them, and a woman says that she can order beers on stage.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Comedians, talented people, show business, ego, chronic shyness, early influences, depression, trauma, pain, narcissism, self-loathing, panic attacks, addiction, obsession, competition, racism, suicide, drug and alcohol abuse.

MESSAGE - Being different is good. The lives of people in the entertainment industry are stressful.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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