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‘Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces’ Review: A Sprawling Portrait Splits the Comedian’s Career, Saving the Payoff for the Second Half
Steve Martin has mellowed considerably since his 'wild and crazy guy' days, inspiring Morgan Neville to divide his portrait into two distinct features.
The first part is a fairly straightforward, largely archival look at the first half of Martin’s life, featuring rare journals and personal recordings from his childhood in Orange County, Calif. (where he dreamed of being a magician and scored an early job at Disneyland), to the moment he decided to step away from stand-up comedy altogether. Like the parody of a bad lounge act, he cheated at juggling, made misshapen balloon animals, wore novelty headgear (bunny ears and rubber arrow gags), took banjo breaks and wriggled and danced like the world’s most obnoxious party guest — whom he dubbed “a wild and crazy guy.” Johnny Carson loved him. Based on the first half, audiences have been primed to expect a film-by-film tour through his big-screen career, but apart from dwelling on the disappointment of “Pennies from Heaven,” Martin seems uninterested in telling stories about that four-decade stretch (most of which he already shared in “Number One Is Walking,” a cartoon memoir illustrated by Harry Bliss).
Or read this on Variety
