Albert Brooks: Defending My Life (2023) User Reviews

The Mark of Albert Brooks

[tributarystu · 7/10 · 15 November 2023]

One of the important funny men of the 70s-90s gets his own documentary from his friend Rob Reiner.

If you're not familiar with the stand-up by Albert Brooks, which I was not, you should know some of his movies - Modern Romance (1981), Lost in America (1985), Mother (1996), etc. And if you're not familiar with his movies, then perhaps with his performances - Broadcast News (1987), Finding Nemo (2003), Drive (2011), etc. And if you're still not familiar with him, geeze, I don't know how you've gone through life without seeing at least of these movies.

I've always held Brooks in my mind as a toned-down Woody Allen kind of figure, presumably because he did share some of the stylings in the movies that he wrote-directed-featured-in. He has worked on so many good films, regardless of his part in it, that it's hard to ignore him as an important artist of his era. Proof to that is the quantity and quality of talking heads who took part in retelling his story, from Stephen Spielberg to Ben Stiller to David Letterman (and many more). You get a good sense of the kind of guy Albert Brooks is and a taste of some of his memorable works, but a lot of the focus is on his irreverence as a stand-up comedian - which is probably where the value is in this, because the movies will always stand on their own.

Other than that, the documentary is traditional to a t, going over the career of AB while adding some context via a one on one interview between him and Rob Reiner. There's a fair amount of funny stuff in it, if not riveting, and a warm portrait of a guy who has left his own distinctive mark in "the business".

Under the radar comedian now assessed as the "caviar of comedy"

[paul-allaer · 6/10 · 16 November 2023]

As "Albert Brooks: Defending My Life" (2023 release; 89 min.) opens, director (and lifelong close friend) Rob Reiner and Brooks are in a near-empty restaurant. Reiner asks some questions, and Brooks reminisces about this, that or the other. At this point we are 10 min. Into the documentary.

Couple of comments: Albert Brooks (ne Albert Einstein, no, really!) had a good run at in as a comedian and later actor-writer-director. But he never really made it into the stratosphere, commercially that is. For that his kind of humor and comedy was a bit too off-center. Chances are you can't name a single of the movies he directed (and usually starred in himself). Thar is not to knock the guy. It's just that, even though I certainly was aware who he was, he never became a giant. Can you name any movie off the top of your head that Brooks directed (and typically also starred in)? I couldn't, although watching this documentary some of them came back to me for sure. Turns out that plenty of big names including Sharon Stone, Larry David, James L Brooks, Conan O'Brien, Sarah Silverman, Jonah Hill, just to name those, feel differently and describe Brooks as groundbreaking. Or as one puts it: the "caviar of comedy". Ok then. But is the documentary itself any good? It certainly is entertaining. The hour and a half just flew by. But that doesn't make it truly memorable as such. It's a little like Brooks himself: a little under the radar for most.

"Albert Brooks: Defending My Life" recently premiered on HBO and is also streaming on Max, where I caught it last night. Whether you are a big fan of Albert Brooks, or simply just aware of him, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Overdue Look at a Brilliant Comic Mind and a Most Audacious Spirit

[EUyeshima · 8/10 · 19 November 2023]

Albert Brooks has always been criminally underrated, first as a stand-up comic, then as a filmmaker and casting himself as the leading man, and finally as a character actor in other people's movies ("Broadcast News", "Drive"). His off-the-ledge audacity and unique sense of the absurd didn't go over with everybody, but he is revered by fellow comics and those of us dazzled by his laser-sharp wit. It was smart to have his best friend Rob Reiner direct and interview him in this fleet but invaluable 2023 documentary. Their casual rapport not only helps offset some of the more zealous comments from his celebrity fans but provides insightful context to the most memorable moments of his career including two of my favorite films, "Lost in America" and "Defending Your Life". They also delve into his fascinating star-studded childhood when his successful comedian father died at a Friars Roast for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. It made me wonder if it was Brooks' idea for his character to die in the opening moments of "Private Benjamin" when his zealous bridegroom has a fatal wedding night coronary while having sex with Goldie Hawn. After all, he finds humor in the least likely situations.

A Documentary of the Funniest Man in The World

[love-08238 · 10/10 · 16 November 2023]

Such an amazing way to see the shape of Albert Brooks' career. The standup featured in the opening, much of which I had never seen before, sets the stage for an amazing filmmaking career. He is both cerebral and meta and makes the viewer laugh at what their laughing at. So many people will get a glimpse of rarer movies, such as Real Life and Modern Romance and then delight in seeing Lost in America and Defending Your Life. I love the scene in Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World and it makes me want to see it agin. The personal component about his childhood and family, gives it heart. I loved this documentary.

Rob Reiner's My Dinner With Einstein

[gortx · 5 December 2023]

Not as much a documentary as two old friends having a long discussion. It's Rob Reiner's MY DINNER WITH EINSTEIN.

Einstein here is, of course, known to the world as Albert Brooks. Reiner and Brooks have been friends for some 60 years. It's a very chummy look at his life and career. The clips are good, if not long enough to really capture Brooks' sense of humor. The guest interviews include a lot of mutual friends such as Larry David, Judd Apatow, Steven Spielberg etc. And they never hit very deeply either. Brooks fondly recalls his show business upbringing as his parents were both performers (curiously, Brooks' late brother, comedian Bob Einstein, is given almost no mention at all).

Most interesting here are the pre-SNL and Tonight Show footage showing the young Brooks developing his routines on variety programs hosted by the likes of Johnny Cash, The Everly Brothers and Helen Reddy. Brooks is working out his thoughts on the nature of comedy itself. His act occassionally veers into Andy Kauffman level conceptual art - with a less dangerous edge, perhaps. Even in this nascent stage, Brooks' greatest strength is that his "characters" are really just himself. What sets Brooks apart from most comics is his willingness to be unlikeable - often, deeply so. Narscistic. Venal. Mean. Conceited. It's that lack of traditional warmth that explains why for such a famed and lauded creator, he's only made seven films over a 50+ year career (although it's never directly explored here). Of course, it's Brooks' sarcastic humor and intelligent irony that has made him an icon.

DEFENDING MY LIFE is an enjoyable look for fans of Brooks but don't expect anything probing or challenging (curiously, unlike his actual work).

I love this a lot!

[UniqueParticle · 10/10 · 24 November 2023]

I didn't realize how funny Albert Brooks was I just love him as an actor and this documentary hits the spot for me makes me appreciate Albert even more! I need to see more of his work such a humble being. I'm blown away how Rob Reiner has been friends with Albert since he was 16 with great stories to go with it. I don't understand how someone else said watch one of his other films this is so worth learning about everything and I love it all. Once in awhile I crave documentaries especially ones about famous actors sometimes other subjects I'm happy to be in the minority that loves all of this gem.

Food For The Soul

[chrismed-54794 · 7/10 · 19 November 2023]

This documentary shedded the light how being raised properly by both parents is the greatest influence on a persons characteristic development. Gives a touch of nostalgia. Shows the beauty of a 60 year friendship between men never changes. These are the rare gems you should enjoy stumbling upon in the documented world of old Hollywood that will hold your intention with informative events in entertainment history, smalls jests mixed with with raw emotion, and high praises from some of the industries most iconic faces (Steven Spielberg, Larry David, Chris Rock, etc) making it an easy to watch & fun to learn about it. This isn't the awe-inspiring, award worthy documentary but what it does hold is value and if you can take anything from something to apply it in real life for growth, it's weight is worth more than gold.

A documentary as brilliant as the subject

[cparousis-30615 · 10/10 · 23 November 2023]

I have been an Albert Brooks fan for 35 years. Rob Reiner did an exceptional job capturing the and his brilliant mind. From the time Albert was a teenager, he was a brilliant comedian. The stories and the interviews with famous comedians and actors put an exclamation point on his brilliance. The documentary let the subject be the star. Many modern documentaries have the filmmakers as the focal point in terms of their struggles to make the film either with budgets being out of control or the subject is not cooperative. I only wish it was four hours long. When Letterman said he would rather have Albert's career than his own was the most telling admission. A+

VIEWS ON FILM review of Albert Brooks: Defending My Life

[burlesonjesse5 · 7/10 · 24 November 2023]

Albert Brooks (whose real name is Albert Einstein) is a comedian/actor/director/screenwriter who has had a career spanning over 50 years. I mean everyone knows who Albert Brooks is. You might have seen him in Broadcast News or This Is 40 or Out of Sight or Drive (as have I). His brand of humor or egregiousness is as dry as the Sahara desert. His air is sardonic. Yeah, you either get it or you don't (and I do). Albert Brooks: Defending My Life is a documentary about Brooks, with the 76-year-old entertainer in diverting Greek chorus mode. It's like "Defending's" director (Rob Reiner) said, "Albert, I stopped by to shoot a flick about what makes you tick. Hope you don't mind". Entrancing.

Now does Albert Brooks: Defending My Life have rules? What rules, there are no rules. I mean you could watch this thing from the middle, beginning, or end and never be out of the loop. It maunders. And is "Defending" basically an 87-minute, rinse, repeat of Albert talking about his life experiences as he sits with helmer Reiner at some random restaurant table? Yeah but whatever. Their present day stuff is intercut with archive footage and interviews with people that aren't rent-a-celebs but actual celebs. Seems reasonable to me.

With "Defending", everybody talks about Albert Brooks like he's a genius comedian so yeah, this could feel like a vanity stunt. The key word meaning "could". Despite the wandering narrative, hasty coda, and loose structure, Albert Brooks: Defending My Life has a certain whimsical flavor to it, with Reiner not wanting to glorify Brooks but rather celebrate his legacy via some languid, living funeral (Albert is doing just fine by the way).

Call it a cinematic guy's day out. Call it a "look at me", new-found gimmick. Call it affixed phooey. I call Albert Brooks: Defending My Life recommendable. I don't "defend" any retractor who doesn't feel the same way.

A Great personal Documentary

[tkdlifemagazine · 8/10 · 16 November 2023]

This is a great and very personal documentary of the living comic, writer, actors nd Director, Albert Brooks. Best friend and star in his own right, Rob Reiner, put together this great living retrospective of the life and career of Albert "Brooks" Einstein. The documentary has many clips, interviews, and one and one conversations between Brooks and Reiner. Brooks was a transformative entertainer and I really had no idea how many people's lives and careers he shaped. The stories of the origins of Saturday Night Live and his parents were worth watching alone. I was always a bigger fan of his beloved and deceased brother, Super Dave Osbourne aka Bob Einstein but Albert Is a unique talent.

Uncurbed Enthusiasm

[ThurstonHunger · 6/10 · 26 December 2023]

I thought I loved Albert Brooks, but I walked away realizing it's Rob Reiner who *really* loves Albert. This movie probably won't do much for folks who don't already partially worship Brooks.

Still an enjoyable time celebrating their friendship and Brooks' career. Somehow I've not seen "Real Life" so I need to correct that pronto, like a lot of Brooks' comedy it's funny, but painfully on point at the same time.

I do think that he's quite a bit like this characters, well besides the occasional heavy, kudos to his agent for getting that role in "Drive." So after seeing some of his failed attempts on-screen in romance, it's pretty amazing that he found a wife, and kudos on 26 years of marriage.

May she love and revel in you as much as Rob does.

The film does deliver some other nice inside info, I did not know about the Einstein name and the Carl Reiner teenage interaction (both well-discussed on their promo circuit for this paean-doc),. Loved seeing the old Tonight Show appearances, didn't catch those when I was too young. Driving around LA with Spielberg and other tales, nice that we got to sit at the table for those I guess.

Hmmm googling Albert and plastic surgery today and I found this gem : "Trying to stay young. Going to plastic surgeon today to have my attention span shortened." He's definitely got the jokes.

In a way this felt like it is the sequel to Brook's guesting on Curb Your Enthusiasm...

Not a great documentary, but a great comic mind

[dfloro · 8/10 · 17 December 2023]

If Rob Reiner (as well as his late father before him) had not been two of Albert Brooks' best friends since he was in high school, this would have been more interesting. Why did I rate it so highly? Because there's no shortage of evidence, archival and otherwise, on display here for us to review what a great actor and comedic mind the guy (born Albert Einstein) has been for 60 years. The title is a reference to one of, if not THE best movies he wrote, directed and acted in (opposite the past century's greatest actor, Meryl Streep, who asked HIM if she could appear in it with him), "Defending Your Life." If you haven't seen all of that one, please do so immediately. Only watch Rob's interview-based film on his friend if, like me, you wish he'd been your own best friend.

The Californian version of Woody Allen

[imseeg · 6/10 · 22 December 2023]

What's most special to me about Albert Brooks' comedies is that he told a story. He would do sketches and silly standup comedy at the start of his career, but I never thought he excelled at that. But he did excel and distinguish himself by making his jokes turn around an entire storyline of thoughts.

He did excell at directing and acting in serious roles as well. His comedy movies about human character flaws are so real and recognizable, so embarrassing but true simultanesously, that they become funny, while being acted out dead serious. That's when I loved Albert Brooks the most.

This documentary isnt the best in it's genre, because everybody is glorifying the man till they see blue in the face, while Albert Brooks is still very much alive. Shouldnt these documentaries be made when the dude has passed on to greener pastures?

Albert Brooks is one heck of a guy. A brilliant actor and comedy genius. But what I truly missed in this documentary is the subtle but oh so witty and mischievous satire that he is best at in his own work, but is now completely absent in this documentary about his life. Too much a** kissing my friends...

A huge letdown: Two fantastic filmmakers tell, rather than show

[Denoument · 3/10 · 18 November 2023]

Coming from Rob Reiner about Albert Brooks, this film is a huge letdown. Two fantastic filmmakers tell, rather than show.

This is NOT a documentary, but rather a filmed conversation, illustrated by archive photos and videos, occasionally interrupted with short praises coming from celebrity fans and very few actual collaborators.

Hopefully, someday, parts of this material will be used in a real documentary about Albert Brooks. A documentary that will do more than just recycle the already seen bits and pieces.

Reiner fails to show us the genius of his lifelong friend. Instead, he gives us a never-ending, uninspiring, and predictable paean. Combined with the impression of a very limited production budget, one gets an idea that this draft for a film was made in a great hurry.

Watch One of Brooks's Films Instead

[brentsbulletinboard · 5/10 · 12 November 2023]

When someone helps to shift the direction of something, regardless of the milieu involved, there's a natural inclination to want to celebrate that individual's contributions. In the area of stand-up comedy, one of the names that frequently comes to mind is Albert Brooks (born Albert Einstein - really). In the 1970s, his inventiveness took comedy in a new direction, inspiring others to follow suit and forever changing the art form, and this new HBO documentary from Brooks's lifelong friend, director Rob Reiner, is an apparently sincere attempt at paying tribute to the writer-actor-comedian-director. Unfortunately, this effort misses the mark in many respects (though it admittedly improves markedly in the picture's back half). Perhaps the biggest issue here is Reiner himself; as someone who has known Brooks since high school, he's probably too close to the material to present a balanced view of his subject. Many of his interview sequences with Brooks come across as two old friends reminiscing about the past without providing sufficient back story information for the viewers, the result being a vehicle that's a little too "inside" for audiences to fully appreciate the point of their conversations. What's more, the film has an annoying tendency to gush, especially when it comes to the comedian's early routines, work that may have been cutting-edge when first introduced but that, frankly, hasn't withstood the test of time. Toning down the hype here would help immeasurably, particularly in the film's interview segments with peers and admirers (including such entertainment industry heavy hitters as Chris Rock, Wanda Sykes, Ben Stiller, Sarah Silverman, Larry David, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Jon Stewart, Stephen Spielberg, James L. Brooks and Judd Apatow, among others), which often treat Brooks as the sole progenitor of innovative stand-up comedy. This is clearly a case of overstatement, especially since there were others at the time doing similarly inventive routines. The picture's opening sequence, largely devoted to the foregoing, rambles along far too long, too, delaying its treatment of what works best in this documentary - an examination of Brooks's achievements as the director of such movies as "Real Life" (1979), "Lost in America" (1985), "Defending Your Life" (1991) (his best work) and "Mother" (1996), as well as his performances in films like "Taxi Driver" (1976), "Broadcast News" (1987), "Drive" (2011) and "Concussion" (2015) and his animation voiceover work in "Finding Nemo" (2003), "Finding Dory" (2016) and his multiple appearances on the long-running TV series The Simpsons. These are the endeavors in which Brooks's brilliance truly shines, and they generally deserve better, more complete treatment than what they receive here. Don't get me wrong here - I'm a big fan of Brooks; however, I wish his talents and achievements had been showcased in a better film than what's on offer here. If you really want to get to know Brooks better, watch one of his films - they'll show you more about him than anything featured in this documentary.

Rob Reiner likes his friend Albert Brooks

[hayley96 · 5/10 · 19 November 2023]

There's a danger in saluting your friend to an audience. Especially when you commit your adulation to film. And then sell it for showing to the masses. I kind of see Albert Brooks as a better looking forerunner to Larry David. He's turns annoyance and insecurity into an art form.

But as original as he may have been in his early days , he was often better in other director's material like Taxi Driver and Broadcast News.

The film is more of a friendly chat between long time pals than a serious dissection of Brooks impact on comedy. Honestly, some of the bits Brooks did as a kid killed Rob's dad's friends but struck me as "had to be there" moments.

In sum, it's not a terrible documentary but unless you are a comic nerd, it's a bit dull.