The King Of Comedy (1982) ****

The King Of Comedy (1982) is a prophetic, funny and sad film about a man who will virtually stop at nothing to achieve fame. The always great Robert De Niro plays Rupert Pupkin, an aspiring comic who stalks his hero, late night host Jerry Langford (played by the equally excellent Jerry Lewis).

When Pupkin is rejected by Langford's agency numerous times and can't take the hint, he devises a plan to kidnap Jerry with the assistance of his friend, another rabid fan, Masha (played to obsessive perfection by Sandra Bernhard), in order to get his name out there. In some ways, Scorsese's stamp is less obvious, at least to me on this, my first viewing (took me far too long). But KOC is a highly influential black comedy satire that stands the test of time.

Recommended for fans of Network (1976), Taxi Driver (1976) (my review here), and To Die For (1995).

You can find my Martin Scorsese Feature Films Ranked list here.

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