Heckler (2008)

DVD

The movie is a documentary from start to finish. I'm really not into documentaries, but the title caught my eye. I figured this movie was going to be hilariously funny because I was expecting confrontations between hecklers and comedians throughout the movie. Although, we do get that... hell, we even see some punches thrown here and there,... the movie is really about how the industry of comedy and movie making feel about hecklers and critics.

The movie has a huge amount of cameos with their opinion of hecklers. Some of the famous (and past famous) people included in the movie are Louie Anderson, Criss Angel, Lewis Black, David Cross, Mike Ditka, Jim Everett, Carrie Fisher, Larry Flint, Tom Green, Kathy Griffin, Arsenio Hall, Jewel, John Lovitz, Bill Maher, Howie Mandel, Paul Rodriguez, Joe Rogan, Roseanne, Joel Schumacher, Henry Winkler, Sean Young, Rob Zombie, and whole lot more. It's a who's who in the industry. And each one of them has an opinion about critics and hecklers.

The first third of the documentary focuses on hecklers in audiences and how comics handle them and how they really feel about them. Though most are ready for hecklers, they really hate them.... For good reason. As one comedian put it: "No show has ever been better because of a heckler". So true. Why some people feel the need to try to upstage a comic, I have no idea. Even if the comedian is having a bad night and the crowd really isn't laughing at his jokes, why put salt in the wound? No comedian ever goes to YOUR job place and yells "YOU SUCK" when you do a bad job.

The rest of the movie deals with "us"... the movie critics. Even the non-professional ones. It portrays how critics affect those that they critique and especially how the negative criticism from some of the critics are down right cruel. Many of the critics sway away from actually analyzing the movie and instead take low blows at the actor's physical appearance which have nothing to do with their work. It shows how actors and directors are always being scrutinized.... unfairly sometimes.

Now, I'm all in favor for our right to our opinions, but even I have fallen prey to unfairly scrutinizing an actor. And I've read plenty of reviews by other critics and reviewers on this site that have done the same. Maybe next time we need to think carefully what we write before we write it. How is what we're about to say going to affect the people we're writing about? My favorite parts of the documentary included the scenes when Jamie confronts some of his critics and asks them, in person, why they wrote what they did. I bet many other actors would have loved to have confronted their critics the way Jamie did.

Although, Jamie DOES come across as a whiney man disgusted with most of the reviews of his movies, he really DOES have a good point. Who are we to critique and judge his movies? Most critics have never written a screenplay, or directed a movie, or even starred in one. So why do we feel we have the power to criticize him? The answer is simple..... BECAUSE WE CAN.

Some of the cameo appearances agree with Jaime about critics but others don't. Criss Angel, one of the best illusionists I have ever seen (in my opinion haha), says it quite simple. He says that he welcomes critics opinions because it makes him want to perform better. So Jaime.... if you don't want critics to rip your movies apart... then make better movies. Simple.

Overall, the documentary was good and informative. Even though Kennedy comes across disgusted with hecklers and critics, he simply wants to know why? Why do we feel that we have the right to take pot shots at him or anyone else in the business... if we're not in the business ourselves? Well, take this information and check out the video. I really feel every reviewer in this website should take a look at it before they review their next movie or video to better inform themselves and really try to review a movie the correct way without getting personal on an actor or director. Afterall, a review is a review... it should never be personal.

The Bonus material isn't that impressive. There is basically three sections. Commentary, Extended Scenes, and Deleted Scenes. The Commentary link is simply an option for you to watch the feature film with the help of commentary by actor Jamie Kennedy and director Michael Addis. Don't watch the feature with the commentary on without watching it with the commentary off first. Kennedy and Addis are actually irritating to listen to throughout the feature. Extended Scenes are simply deleted parts of scenes you saw in the movie.... While the Deleted Scenes are scenes completely omitted from the movie. There was a reason these scenes were left out.... They were not funny. Good call Kennedy.

This is a "must see" for all of us who love to criticize and review movies... which is exactly what this website is about. And most of us DO review movies. Although the movie is mostly one sided in the favor of the comedian or actor or director, etc.... and really downgrades the critic (us), I feel it is very informative. Maybe as reviewers and critics, we can take this film to heart and learn from it. Maybe the next time we criticize a movie, we actually criticize the movie and not the actor or what not. Even though we are entitled to our opinions, they are only that... opinions. Maybe we shouldn't be so hard on them afterall. Rent this video and make up your own mind. (wink wink)