Saturday, June 23, 2018

Bill Cosby: Himself (1983)

Director: Bill Cosby

Writer: Bill Cosby

Starring: Bill Cosby

More info: IMDb

Plot: A concert film in which Bill Cosby discusses weekends, raising children, dentists, and many other situations.



My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I haven't seen this in over thirty years.  It was funnier then when I was a teenager and Cosby was the number one show on TV.  It's just not as funny as it once was.  His routines are masterfully performed.  They always were.  His stories are amusing and sometimes I laughed but mostly just enjoyed listening to his rhythm and delivery.  That I can admire.  The bit about the dentist is still great.  His stories are clearly exaggerated and they're often so embellished that you can tell he's full of shit except that he's a comedian and his job is to make people laugh for which he excelled.  I was surprised that his closer was as poor as it was which makes me wonder why he chose to end it so abruptly instead of with a calculated bang.  Even though I can separate the art from the artist, it was still a little odd watching this with the knowledge that he is a serial rapist.  Perhaps subconsciously that affected my viewing but I think that my tastes in humor have changed in places, what I once laughed hysterically at 35 years ago, the magic has waned and it's been downgraded to amusing at best. The 20th Century Fox DVD presents the film in both anamorphic widescreen and fullscreen with the sole extra with the fullscreen theatrical trailer.

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