Lenny

Dustin Hoffman is at the top his game as 50's/60's groundbreaking comedian Lenny Bruce in the dramatic documentary LENNY.

Bruce broke every rule as the first truly controversial comedian who was arrested in many cities for using obscenities in his act. The fact that his entire routine could be seen today on any cable channel or comedy club without a raised eyebrow lends interesting perspective to the film.

Hoffman is superb and Valerie Perrine is his equal as Bruce's wife Honey.

She is a headlining stripper when they meet in a club. They form a touring act that meets with some success, but real fame lands for Lenny when he starts breaking the rules and winging his set every night with foul takes on the rules of society, the government and politics.

As Honey begins a downward decent into heroin and jail time, Lenny finds himself raising their little girl on his own.

Lenny continues to push boundaries, his fame and infamy follow him and soon he is overwhelmed with the hounding police in each state just waiting to arrest him for his act.

The fact that this film is true is amazing. George Carlin and Richard Pryor often acknowledged Bruce for blazing a trail for them. The trail is brutal indeed.

Director Bob Fosse films the whole story in black and white, interspersing scenes of Bruce's life with his comedy routines, performed perfectly by Hoffman.

Nominated for 6 Oscars including Best Picture, Actor (Hoffman) Actress (Perrine) Director (Fosse).

Lenny takes a long time to get going and really only grabbed me from the midway point to its conclusion. Sad but well performed, adult but certainly not obscene, Lenny gets a very dark B-.