Gilbert (2017)

Gilbert: Directed by Neil Berkeley. With Gilbert Gottfried, Dave Attell, Joy Behar, Richard Belzer. GILBERT is a wildly funny and unexpectedly poignant portrait of the life and career of one of comedy’s most iconic figures, Gilbert Gottfried.

“Gilbert (2017) u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e*** 1/2 (out of 4)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is a rather unique and interesting documentary that takes a look at the life and career of comedian Gilbert Gottfried but instead of focusing on the early portion of his career this film takes a look at his more recent years including his relationship with his wife and two children.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eApparently there was a very long-running joke saying that the comedian would never get married and the first twenty or so minutes of the documentary covers his relationship with is wife. We really get to know Gilbert as he is today with the family life and then we slowly start to go back in time to hear stories about his parents, growing up, becoming a comedian and then hitting success.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI thought the film took a rather unique approach to the subject and I must admit that I have never been the biggest fan of Gilbertu0026#39;s. In fact, I honestly found him to be rather annoying but after watching this documentary I really came away seeing him quite differently and yes, this documentary actually made me like him. We get some terrific stories from his wife about what itu0026#39;s like to live with someone like him. We also get to hear from comedians like Jay Leno, Artie Lange, Whoopi Goldberg, Richard Belzer, Jim Gaffigan and Lewis Black who explain why everyone loves Gilbert.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are plenty of video clips from his earliest performances on the stage as well as his transformation into a dirty comic where we get even more clips. Thereu0026#39;s also discussion of his now notorious tweets after the Japan tsumani and we get to hear from everyone involved on the jokes and the comicu0026#39;s timing in regards to something beign too soon.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGILBERT is certainly a very fun and at times touching look at the comedia. I think his fans will really enjoy the access into his life and I also think the film is good enough to even work for people like me who wasnu0026#39;t the biggest fans going into it.”