Heckler is the latest
film I’ve watched in my recent documentary binge on lovefilm. Having been
enthralled by the likes of lovefilm’s other offerings The Corporation, Room 237
and the heart wrenching masterpiece This is Not A Film I had high hopes.
Unfortunately this turned out to be a documentary so irksome that I turned it
off part way through.
This grew to bother me
over the next few days a great deal. Why had it been so irritating? I’ve never
walked out of a film and I hadn’t stopped one part way through since ‘I’m Still
Here’ and that was a group decision. I had to get to the bottom of why I was so
incensed. A week or two later I returned to heckler to finish it.
Heckler promises to be
an exploration of hecklers and the psychology of why they feel inclined to
disrupt performances. The focus initially is largely on standup though there
are several interesting heckles shown from outside the comedy world such as
Ronald Reagan’s San Diego campaign trail. Overall the historical footage is
excellent and well drawn upon showing either famous incidents such as Kenny Moore’s violent retort or big names of the industry like Bill Hicks battling heckling.
The talking heads are
also incredibly diverse and well represented from the comedy world. Tom Green,
David Cross, Bobby Slayton, Adam Ferrera, Carrie Fisher…. Wait a second? Paul F
Tompkins, Joe Rogan, George Lucas… Hang on what was that last one? Greg
Fitzsimmonds, Robert Kelly, Robert Englund, Rob Zombie… Er there something a
bit strange going on here. There’s a lot of people in here from the world of
film snuck in for some reason.
Around 40 minutes in when
Jamie Kennedy hauls in film critic Jon Perry to excoriate him for reviewing his
film Malibu’s Most Wanted poorly the film’s true intentions start to become
clear. And it is no surprise that this is the place where I turned the film off
first time through.
Though Heckler may be
helmed by director Michael Addis it is actually Jamie Kennedy who is the
narrative voice driving the film. We see him heckled several times on the
screen and interviewing hecklers along with bloggers and reviewers. The method
by which he does to devalue their integrity by telling a babysitter his job
makes his ill equipped to judge comedians (and should contract stomach cancer),
implying a blogger is just a failed film maker and suggesting that if a film
critic were to have a more active sex life he would enjoy comedy more.
The first major
problem with Heckler is that Jamie Kennedy diverts from the impartiality of the
film and makes it far too personal following him and his career too closely. It
might be valiant to offer oneself up as a primary to explore an issue but you should
expect that this will bring who you are and what you do into question.
As a figure there is a
strange comparison between Jamie Kennedy in this and Joaquin Phoenix in I’m
Still Here. Both are actors who have grown fatigued with the film world and chosen
to change career; Jamie Kennedy becomes a comedian; Joaquin Phoenix becomes a
hip hop rapper. The difference is I’m Still Here is a fictitious depiction of
an actor in decline exploring a career path he is not well suited to, whereas…
I will not draw into
question the acting ability of Jamie though by focusing on his film works he
has made it fair game for many. I will however discus his standup if only to
say he cannot handle the dynamic of crowds which perhaps explains some of the difficulties
he has encountered. If you need proof you should watch his dialled in
presentation of the E3 awards 2007 here.
The greatest problem
with Heckler is that it lets this bias sabotage what it first set out to do.
Film reviewers and hecklers are conflated. Hecklers are hectored rather than
analysed. The piece turns into a
tedious piece of criticism itself that rallies against all negative
opinion against artistic work. There is a very interesting documentary here,
but it has been buried in a mire of resentment.
