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American: The Bill Hicks Story (2009)

Director: Matt Harlock, Paul Thomas

Time Out rating

Average user rating

3 reviews

Synopsis

An innovative portrait of the great American comedian.

Movie review

From Time Out London

Since his passing in 1994, the image of maverick US comedian Bill Hicks has been adopted as a crude totem that equates chain-smoking and invective with a vague, post-punk defiance. As this exhaustive, moving documentary confirms, not only did Hicks’s fiery, ultra-articulate belligerence make him a rebel with a cause but he carried with him a permanent sadness relating to how his comedy was received and the state of the world. Painstakingly recreating the testimony of friends and family by manipulating and animating archive photographs, the directors tell Hicks’s story in a clear, linear fashion and never push for undue meaning.

The breadth and quality of the archive is nothing short of astounding – there’s even grainy VHS footage of his endless tours through dives such as The Comedy Pouch in Possum Ridge, Arkansas – so even those who shrug at his combative style of humour won’t be able to deny that this is a model of detailed and distanced biographical filmmaking.

Author: David Jenkins

Time Out London Issue 2073: May 13-19, 2010

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User reviews of this film

mark said...

Posted on May 26 2010 12:44 havent seen the film yet,but did see hicks in norwich,in '92.a great nite.

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frank said...

Posted on Apr 29 2010 15:57 gosh, aren't you angry? if you don't need to hear anyone else's opinion, why are you reading reviews? and roy chubby brown filled concert halls too dude.

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scandinavian said...

Posted on Apr 29 2010 15:38 I'm sure Tom here speaks for... no one but himself, but the rest of us KNOW that Bill filled CONCERT HALLS, so... Tom here telling us how pathetic HE thinks listening to stuff about Bill is, is... well, yeah, you guessed it: it's just making Tom here look even more pathetic, isn't it. Sure Tom, you get paid to discredit what your genius has probably already perceived and branded as "the left" and "left wing views", but for once, just shut up will you. you'll get paid for your mediocre idiosyncrasies anyway , wont you, just leave out trying to tell people how to feel about stuff like this. I'll tell you when I need to have someone elses opinion on what kind of comedy I think is "adolescent". I can tell one thing for certain: "serious" , "adult" observation

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