Scorsese: The King of Comedy
March 18, 2026
Martin Scorsese: Maestro of Cinema
Mediocre comedian (Robert De Niro) dreams of being on the Comedy King’s (Jerry Lewis) TV show. Maybe his chances would improve if he and his friend (Sandra Bernhard) kidnapped his idol. Delightfully cringey.
Tickets
Select showtime for pricing and tickets.
Wednesday, March 18, 2026
This film could have spawned the “Cringe” concept all by itself. Robert De Niro, having embodied various forms of intense obsessiveness in Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, here hopes to raise our smile, albeit an astounded and aghast one. De Niro’s Rupert Pupkin dreams of celebrity, the exalted life of his beloved gods: “They’re very witty, they have wonderful things to say all the time.” At the mountaintop is funnyman Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis), and Rupert’s mission is to get noticed and appear on Jerry’s TV talk show. Every step of Rupert’s approach is rejected, but he persists, grinning and blinded by his self-certainty of being accepted. His efforts are wildly embarrassing and outrageously funny. We wince, we cringe, but Rupert’s a human being, poignantly misguided. To this day Scorsese can’t stand to watch some of the scenes. For him the film lives “on the fine line between love land hostility.” Maybe Rupert and his pal Masha (Sandra Bernhard) could kidnap Jerry to show him how much they care.
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Principal Cast: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahanne Abbott, Sandra Bernhard
- Country: USA
- Year: 1982
- Running Time: 109 min.
- Producer: Arnon Milchan, Paul D. Smith
- Screenplay: Paul D. Zimmerman
- Cinematographers: Fred Schuler
- Editors: Thelma Schoonmaker
- Music: Robbie Robertson
- US Distributor: 20th Century Fox