Painfully perceptive Scorsese film in which Robert De Niro gives an unforgettable performance as stand-up wannabe, Rupert Pupkin.
Certificate
Duration104 mins
Review by
This is a lesser known collaboration between Scorsese and DeNiro. The film follows Rupert Pupkin, a New Yorker who seeks fame and fortune through television. Throughout we gradually find out more about the mans mental state. The lengths he goes to reach his fame, his pestering of Jerry Lewis playing a character similar to Johnny Carson, his slipping past security. The scene in which he performs in front of a cardboard cut-out audience is particular disturbing. De niro plays the delusional, plastic charm of the character perfectly leading up to the sinister yet brave ending by Scorsese.