Double Feature Friday:
JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK and
MR. WARMTH: THE DON RICKLES PROJECT
Now Streaming on Netflix
4/5 Stars
Each of these documentaries gives remarkable insight into the long and storied career of a comedy legend. You’ll finish both feeling like you know much more about the history of comedy in general and the subject in particular. The big difference between the two is the perspective.
MR. WARMTH tells the story of Don Rickles mostly in the words of his friends and admirers, with only a few moments of interview with the man himself. A PIECE OF WORK practically gives Joan Rivers herself the camera. The documentarians follow her around practically 24/7 for months as she continues to tour, giving history lessons every few minutes. WARMTH feels like the final honor of a life of accomplishment. It is a retrospective of a man who seems to have found contentment. WORK, on the other hand, paints a portrait of a woman that will never be satisfied, that always wants to reach the next echelon, that wants to go on forever. This makes it the sadder of the two films, but also the more affecting.
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