Filthy-mouthed, heroin-addicted sociopath Lenny Bruce is not the kind of heroic biographical subject that draws crowds, but Bob Fosse’s tight direction and Dustin Hoffman’s mesmerising central performance as the self-destructive comic make Lenny a controversial film worth serious study.
Drug addiction, continual arrests for obscenity, and a desperate struggle to open the world’s eyes to the ugliness of life through comedy led to a tragic downfall.
Hoffman manages the miracle of making you see a thoroughly unpleasant creep in a new light.
Not for the squeamish.
Lenny Bruce
Dustin Hoffman Honey Bruce
Valerie Perrine Sally Marr
Jan Miner Artie Silver
Stanley Beck Sherman Hart
Gary Morton Aunt Mema
Rashel Novikoff Jack Goldstein
Guy Rennie
Director Bob Fosse
Related Posts
Girl Who Came Gift-Wrapped, The (1974) This made-for-television romantic comedy revolves around Michael Green (Richard Long), the wealthy and jaded bachelor publisher of a male-oriented magazine…
Papillon (1973) This unrelenting film was made by Franklin J Schaffner from Henri Charrière's autobiographical account of life in (and escape from)…
Straight Time (1978) Dustin Hoffman stars as Max Dembo, a small-time crook recently released on parole after six years in prison. After a…
Raging Moon, The (1971) Bruce Pritchard (Malcolm McDowell) - a vigorous, healthy and randy young Northern lad with an enormous zest for life and…
All That Jazz (1979) Director Bob Fosse's partly autobiographical, self-indulgent, but occasionally brilliant musical had a Fellini-like vision of the life and death of…
Marathon Man (1976) Director John Schlesinger's super-charged thriller is about Babe Babington (Dustin Hoffman), a Jewish Columbia University graduate student and marathon runner…
Hard Ride, The (1971) While fighting in Vietnam, Phil (Robert Fuller) promises his dying Marine buddy, Lenny (Alfonso Williams) that he'll collect his custom…
Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976) In the mould of American Graffiti, Next Stop, Greenwich Village is a nostalgia flashback to one of those special times and…
