JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK
CAROLINE: I took myself to see the new documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work the other night, and I’m so sorry you weren’t with me.
RYAN: Me too! I’d really like to see this movie but we just couldn’t coordinate our schedules.
CAROLINE: Honestly, I enjoyed it, and you should see it, but it could totally be a rental. It’s funny, but very small and indie feeling. Definitely fine for the small screen.
RYAN: How is Joan looking?
CAROLINE: Wow, that is some face. Sometimes you get used to it and barely notice it, and then in other scenes, you’re like, “Oh. My. God. What. Did. That. Woman. Do. To. Her. Face.” It’s kind of unbelievable. She looks like the Joker.
RYAN: She does, I know. But it’s kind of become her trademark. And let’s not diss Joan too much. I love her.
CAROLINE: She seems really likable in person. She’s hilarious, especially in her stand up scenes. When I think of her, I mostly think of when she hosted the E! red carpets where her jokes always kind of fell flat to me. But in this, she’s great, and always has a one liner for everything.
RYAN: So is the movie just a day in the life of Joan Rivers?
CAROLINE: It’s a year in the life. They followed her around for one full year to show how hard she works, what her day-to-day is like, etc. It’s pretty fascinating. And it’s hard to believe a 75-year-old woman can maintain the schedule she does. It’s non-stop! She’s always flying somewhere for a gig, no matter how small, and then somewhere else to do her QVC stuff. Oh, and they also show her appearance on Celebrity Apprentice.
RYAN: OMG I love that show! And I love that she won last year. That was such great karmic payback for her.
CAROLINE: And there are fun cameos from Kathy Griffin, Don Rickles and other famous comics, as well as Joan’s daughter, Melissa.
RYAN: How’s her bad plastic surgery these days?
CAROLINE: Yeesh, not so good. She has horrible fake teeth too. But one other thing I really liked about the movie was all the archival footage of Joan on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and her old stand up routines. First of all, it’s just fun to see what her face looked like back then; but it’s also great to see how groundbreaking she was.
RYAN: So did you LOL?
CAROLINE: Yes, several times. Joan is really raunchy too, which is just so funny coming from a woman her age. Even if she’s not your cup of tea, you really have to admire her. She doesn’t take any B.S. and she really works her butt off.
— BOTTOM LINE —
CAROLINE: It’s a fun little documentary that will probably only play in the big cities; so if you like quirky little movies, this is a good one. For the rest of the world, it would make a fun rental. I really liked learning about Joan’s old work and seeing how much she’s still putting herself out there. It’s pretty inspiring. And she’s funnier than I ever knew.
— RATING —
