Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010) User Reviews

A very complex individual

[jlg310 · 8/10 · 3 October 2010]

The problem I usually have with documentaries is that, while I find them enlightening, I rarely connect to them on an emotional level. My intellect is stimulated, but I don't usually feel anything. The last documentary that made me feel anything was "Sicko." "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" succeeds in the same way. Here's a woman who is a bit of a joke and an easy Hollywood punching bag. But she shows herself to be quite a complex individual. She's of course funny and a workaholic. She's also quite vulnerable and doesn't take criticism well at all. At times, she's quite likable and very sympathetic. Other times, she seems twisted and self-absorbed. I suppose the real Rivers is a little of both. She's also a joy to spend 90 minutes in a theater with, should the opportunity present itself to you.

The film opens with a shot that tells you everything you need to know about this film and its intentions. The shot is an extreme close-up of Rivers without any makeup on. For someone so presumably consumed with her looks, this is a surprising image that tells you this film is going to show you the real Rivers. Like her or not (and many won't), this is her.

The rest of the film is loosely broken up into three sections. The first introduces us to the woman and follows Rivers as she develops an autobiographical play and performs it in the UK. The second follows her during her time on "The Celebrity Apprentice." And the final one shows her on the road across America doing comedy shows. Interspersed with these segments are sidebars about Rivers' past—her marriage, her time with Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show," her relationship with her daughter Melissa, and her annual Thanksgiving charity work.

The two biggest things I took away from the film are that Rivers is obsessive (desperate?) about working and that she is incredibly insecure—perhaps the two complement each other. At one point, she is trying to book a commercial. She tells the ad agency's representative that she'll wear diapers, anything, to land a gig. After seeing this film, I believe she would. She's also incredibly self-doubting. When her play opens in London to good, not great, reviews, she immediately decides it won't see the light of day in New York. She says she wouldn't be able to bear the criticism. And when she agrees to do a Comedy Central roast—well, let's just say, it's not pretty.

One of the most enlightening, and in some ways off-putting, scenes in the film is when she gets heckled at a show in rural Wisconsin. Rivers makes a joke about hating kids but thinking Helen Keller would be tolerable, and a man yells that he thinks she isn't funny, but mean-spirited. Rivers lays into him. She doesn't hold back at all, and while I hold the belief that comedians should be able to defend themselves as they see fit against hecklers, her expletive-laden tirade crossed a few lines. What was so telling about this scene, though, was just how insecure Rivers is. When one man, a nobody in her life, criticizes her, she viciously lashes out.

I really did find this film fascinating for just how complicated it made its star seem. In addition to that, it's also quite funny. Rivers hasn't lost much in 75 years. I'd argue that her best bits are the more recent ones. Most documentaries are intellectual exercises, but not this one. It felt refreshing—not at all like sitting through a lecture. I wasn't a fan of Rivers before. I'm not sure I'm a fan of Rivers now. But a can definitely say I'm a fan of "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work," and I would recommend it to just about anyone.

An uneven but unblinking look at an icon - worth seeking out

[eschetic-2 · 7/10 · 20 June 2010]

I was sorting through some old memorabilia this weekend and stumbled across some stuff saved from a show I reviewed at the National Theatre in D.C. while I was in law school - the embarrassing and justly long forgotten FUN CITY (Alex Cohen produced it in New York for 16 previews and 9 official performances at the MUCH lamented Morosco Theatre, Jan. 2 - 8, 1972) - but it reminded me that I wanted to mention to the IMDb a funny/sad but undeniably fascinating documentary on the main co-star and co-author of the unlamented FUN CITY currently running in New York, JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK (directed by Riki Stern and Anne Sunberg best known 'till now for their previous film festival success).

The documentary follows Rivers for a year in her recent life during which she maintained as much of a non-stop work schedule as she could (undercutting the value of her commercial endorsements by openly saying she'd shill for anything for a buck), dealt with the never explained disappearance of her long time friend and manager, and attempted a run at the Edinburgh Festival (with great success) and in London of a supposedly autobiographical play (from the clips shown, it looks like every expense was spared from the British production) that she claimed to want to bring to New York - but was terrified of repeating her still painful experience in FUN CITY. Ironically, the film makers, while emphasizing how much Rivers cares about getting the respect she deserves as an actress, never MENTION her earlier stint as a replacement in Neil Simon's Broadway BOUND (as the mother) in which the critics fell all over themselves justly praising the lady, or her more recent stint in her own SALLY MARR AND HER ESCORTS which at least received respect (and a Tony Nomination) if not commercial success. (Rivers' acting has always been strongest in other people's work, having never learned the knack of writing a sustained narrative for all her sharp caustic wit in briefer or unstructured formats.)

While uneven in its story telling (the documentary raises many issues in Rivers' life and presents contradictory responses to them, from maintaining her extravagant home to her career choices and love affair with plastic surgery - in later life her unnatural dimples start to make her resemble the model for Wayland Flowers' alter-ego, "Madame" although at the same time she's one of the few personalities big enough to carry off the QVC costume jewelery she touts and looked great in throughout the film), the documentary does not shy away from some of the massive career missteps the lady has made. The failed Fox Talk Show which mentor Johnny Carson viewed as a betrayal and got her effectively banned from NBC for years front and center among them (her odd decision to go against much advice and appear on Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" seems to have been mainly to get back on NBC). It also wisely includes a healthy sampling of her ongoing club work, reminding her fans why they were first drawn to the lady's razor sharp wit as a writer/performer. The sequence apparently intended to show Rivers' passion and pain where she deals with a heckler when delivering "edgy" material in a conservative venue goes on MUCH too long (especially since we are never allowed to hear the "joke"!) but over all we are given an 84 min. look at a comedy icon's public and private life (or as much as she's willing to share).

I suspect that outside major cities and "festivals," this will be a hard item to find even once it's released on video (in Manhattan in first release it's only in a couple places), but anyone who has heard of Joan Rivers will find it worth seeking out both for its comedy memories and its unblinking look inside a life in "the business." It's no panegyric; the film is a decidedly mixed look at this particular "Piece of Work," but it's still strongly recommended for what it is. It's nice to know the lady is still in there swinging.

Honest, Oddly Poignant

[crossbow0106 · 8/10 · 30 October 2010]

I wouldn't call myself a fan per se, but I've always admired Joan Rivers for just saying what she feels. This documentary chronicles a year in her life, her 75th year, and is not a laugh riot by design. She goes into the relationship with her daughter Melissa, her late husband Edgar and her long time manager whom she has increasingly been unable to trust to be available for her. The poignancy is from the various parts of this film of her life as a working performer. There are times that she is not in demand and more than once states she will "take anything". Also, there is a failed play and a scene at a Wisconsin nightclub where she has a shouting match with a person who objects to one of her jokes. You don't go to a Joan Rivers show to hear sweetness, she has always been pointed and sometimes outrageous. Anyone who doesn't know her well can get some insight into her from this film, but this film is more for people who know about her and like/love her. I like her for being bold and for being a pioneer. I would recommend it to everyone who is even vaguely interested but just know it is not a full concert performance. It held my interest throughout.

Is she real?

[JohnDeSando · 31 July 2010]

Joan Rivers is asked, "Don't we want to be loved for our real self?" To which she tellingly replies, "What's the real self?"

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work is not funny even though you'd expect a year in the life of one of the world's funniest ladies to be so. But it is as documentaries go one of the best ever: It is uncompromising in depicting how a 75 year-old icon is working every minute of her day, not to sharpen her craft necessarily, but rather to make money to keep up a lavish lifestyle best exemplified by her Versailles-like apartment in New York.

Truth is, however, that she likes what she does better than anything else, a workaholic who makes people laugh. In the process she is ribald, abrasive, bitchy, and irreverent, attributes she displayed almost 50 years ago, when highly educated ladies just didn't do that kind of thing. But from the Tonight show with Johnny Carson through Celebrity Apprentice, she has done it all in comedy while taking gigs from Wisconsin to Juno, all to stay alive in a profession that eats its young and discards its seniors every day.

When she says, "Let me show you what fear is" and explicates by revealing a blank appointment page, she is speaking for every worker in show business—most of whom face periods of inactivity regularly and bravely. Her fear of bombing with her act is almost as palpable and never more apparent than when she painfully puts down a heckler but suffers remorse for what it did to him, her audience, and of course her self confidence.

Yet the two most devastating events of her life, the suicide of husband Edgar and the ultimate rejection by Johnny Carson may have affected her most in 75 years. This doc is much more about suffering than laughter.

Rivers holds her acting talent above her comedic, a telling admission about the calculating, opportunistic foundation of her career, with comedy a mere avocation. Directors Riki Stern and Anne Sundberg skillfully keep the tension of uncertainty on Joan, as if the camera should be as close as possible to Joan's face to capture that actress's honesty.

"Actress" and "honesty" don't always go together, and they are in question here. How honest is any portrayal by a comic who keeps thousands of jokes on file and surgically alters her face as many times as she may change jewelry? On this topic, I remain skeptical; on the matter of this doc being successful deconstruction of show business's vagaries, it's a powerful work in progress.

Funny but Obsessive

[MikeyB1793 · 7/10 · 22 August 2010]

There are definitely some hilarious moments in here. Joan still packs a wallop at 75. Her humour at times is vulgar – but I don't have an issue with that (it's just a warning that the humour is adult oriented). She performs in a broad spectrum of places - from dumps to respectable. Her home in Manhattan is unbelievable – think of Marie Antoinette!! Certainly not a place to sprawl onto the couch!

After about an hour I did get tired of her self-obsessive focus. Why would an audience (except her adoring fans) be interested in a play in which she gives a self-history of her rise to fame? There is always a danger when an actor becomes overly self-centered on her legacy. I believe she has fallen into the trap of not looking outward.

Nevertheless Joan is hysterical, can laugh at herself and makes us laugh. .

Brilliant and Outrageous

[clg238 · 10/10 · 19 June 2010]

After seeing the trailer, my expectations were moderately high. The movie far exceeds them. It is screamingly funny (Joan Rivers is screamingly funny) and poignant as well. I am partial to people who have a passion and work their hearts out; Joan Rivers exemplifies this. As a writer who's seen ups and downs, I found her up-and-down trajectory inspirational. The humor is often raunchy and always hilarious. Because she cannot do her best jokes on television, I found the movie broadened my perspective on what she is able to do (a lot!). If you've ever liked her jokes, definitely go see this movie. While it's true that the film maker could have dug a bit deeper into some of the darker subjects, I think that would have drastically changed the amazing balance between comedy and seriousness for the worse. A lot is conveyed without belaboring the difficult issues. Although Joan Rivers was virtually in every frame (a few exceptions where some people spoke about her), I never tired of seeing and, especially, hearing her. She has a store of funny and the ability to tap into it, whatever else is happening.

Sunset on Rivers Boulevard

[ptb-8 · 7/10 · 21 October 2010]

There are two laughs in this documentary about funny-girl Joan Rivers. The Michelle Obama joke and I can't remember the other. Somewhere between self absorbed pity fuel-ling a license to insult and a need to please is this quite wonderful witty woman who can't spell vagina but makes jokes about them. At 75 an looking like Barbie's grandma, Rivers verbal avalanche of scattergun jokes makes you yearn for the days of Harpo Marx and maybe then Groucho if you need to hear a joke later. She is like the unofficial rat pack gal sidekick of the 50s and 60s who hasn't yet realized the rat pack days and the Las Vegas laminex table comedy they thought was luxury showbiz is all sooooo last Century. She lives well as displayed in a hilarious tacky Manhattan apartment that looks like an explosion on the set of the 1936 ROMEO AND JULIET set at MGM, she signs a dozen checks with which she buys an image of generosity, she does meals on wheels and in the film's one truly moving moment pays tribute to Florence Fox, an innovative NY photographer now almost destitute. Maybe Joan could also slip her a few checks. I'd like to have seen Joan meet Mimi Weddell the NY fashionista who died in 2009 aged 94 and still going to auditions. Rivers really is not funny. She knows too that yelling obscenities is as passé as Don Rickles doing stand up at 88. Somehow she is interesting no matter how hard she tries to prove how awful-funny she can be. A PIECE OF WORK is getting a good National release in Australia and the audience at a session I went to laughed occasionally. As we filed out most muttered how glad it wasn't one of her shows we are at since she really would have been in front of us. It was better she was just an image on a screen. I feel mean for writing some unpleasant reactions about her.. but it could be worse, I could make fun of her. Or is that what she prefers since it is what she does to everyone else including herself.....Basically it makes you yearn for Carol Channing or Lily Tomlin who really are funny and probably can spell vagina but do not need to.

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work - 9/10

[jnguyen46117 · 9/10 · 16 December 2010]

I was surprised of the movie not being recognized by the Academy of Documentary. I guess they don't want anything to do with Joan Rivers, and that's the whole point of the documentary. The doc started out with Joan Rivers' lowpoint of her career (when she's already 70 years old), and it progresses with Rivers working her way up again. The film demonstrates how the once comedic icon and well known star turned into "a piece of work". With her comedic talents blending with her sad emotions, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work is a snub that the Academy missed out on. OscarBuzz: NONE, that's the point! The Academy is missing out a a great film that shows the love for Joan Rivers and her career. She may be the one 70 year-old that still loves and wants to do her job.

Funny and Fascinating

[Herag · 7/10 · 29 April 2011]

This is an amazing woman with an even amazing career. The film is well done with incredible candor and introspection that only a comedian would share. Nothing is off limits-the conference calls with her manager (Jimmy Sammeth who seems to have a love and hate relation with her) and personal assistant on the speaker phone in disparate attempt to land a gig to support her "Industry" and her opulent life style. I don't know of any comedienne ever lives or lived like her. The apartment is ritzy with gilt galore and classly decorated and she is the queen who has to do her raunchy routine to pay for the luxury. I have seen her live..she really does not have new or good material but people see her at least once, for the pure shock value. She is not afraid to show very unflattering scenes(even scary!) where she appears without makeup for a woman who thrives on vanity and plastic surgery. It becomes quite evident by the end of the film that she really does not have any close friends or family. Her daughter Melissa (not a very likable personality herself!) has no real love for her and her manager Jimmy Sammeth, who ends up quitting (it is ironic that the only tears she ever sheds in front of the camera is for him, and not for her husband who committed suicide in a philadelphia hotel.) Comedians become subtle and subdued as they get older but Joan, is the reverse. She is more daring and raunchy than ever. There were two other comedians, who maintained an extensive joke files like Joan..Bob hope and Milton Berle and they performed to their 90's. She says the actors fade out when they get to be fifty but comedians never fade..once a comedian always a comedian. The best scene in the movie is when she is sitting in the limo making faces to a voice over when she muses to a failed Play. The only thing I am not sure, is the therapy sessions with her daughter Melissa, was real or taken from a movie. I really enjoyed the movie. The two women producers have a great potential. They should do the same with Jerry Seinfeld!

a piece of (hard!) work

[brian-wiz · 9/10 · 30 June 2010]

Also located at my blog (with many more!), Awards Wiz! (briwiz.blogspot.com)

A piece of work--an obvious double meaning, right? Referring to the plastic surgery, but also to her brashness. I would go a step further and say the title refers to her incredible career and work ethic.

"In order to get struck by lightning, you have to stand in the rain."

While this movie affected me on so many levels, it is this quote near the end of the film spoken by Rivers's agent that sticks with me most. It reminded me of every crossroad I have ever reached when times were difficult and decisions had to be made. There are so many chances to give up because it not easy to stay on the path. Rivers shows us what it really takes to not only "make it" but stay in this biz called show. What does it really take? In one scene Rivers tells her daughter that being an actor/performer is about rejection. So many people would give up and come in out of the rain. But there are the handful of people who stay out long enough to get hit by lightning...once. Then there are people like Joan Rivers. She gets hit, but then she goes inside when the rain stops only to venture back out the moment the first drop falls to do it all over again.

This film has been floating around since the Sundance Film Festival, and I have heard and read a few interviews with Rivers discussing the film. So, I knew the movie was going to strip away the public persona of Rivers as the joke of a poster woman for plastic surgery. But I was still unprepared to see her in this manner. And not just the vulnerability factor. I had no idea how hard she works, how persistent she is, and how much acting REALLY means to her. This lack of knowledge is partly because my generation knows her mostly from her red carpet appearances. Needless to say that part of her career is a torrential downpour, if you know what I mean. Honestly though, how many times have we seen her lacking her JOAN RIVERS persona-- whether on E!, TV Guide or even The Tonight Show? Almost never. And why should we, Joan might ask. What we see is Joan at work. There is really no reason for us to see anything else. Thank goodness that this doc actually gave us one. And the best parts are when she is on the road!

When Rivers goes to small town America to do her act, she is obviously slumming compared to what she is used to at home in NYC. But she never really complains, outside of a joke. At least not until a patron at the act heckles her. And it's less complaining and more defending what she loves--her art and what she feels should be clear to everyone. If you can't laugh at the bad you are in a hell of a lot of trouble. And in that moment she keeps going, strong as ever. She is one professional who simply can't quit, partly because she isn't ready to give up her fabulous lifestyle, and partly due to the fact that she hasn't run out of things to say. But mostly (I think) because she absolutely loves it.

We obviously have a great subject, but in lesser hands this film wouldn't be what it is. Never once did I even wonder where the film was headed and I never once wandered in any way off the path the Stern and Sundberg set for me. I simply watched a bit of perfect organic storytelling. Even the jokes are so impeccably placed it wasn't until I burst into laughter, then hearing my fellow audience members also laugh (yes, just like her shows there were a few groans of uncomfortable-ness) that I was taken out of that blissful life-forgetting trance that I strive for in the cinema.

The brilliant storytelling doesn't stop with her work ethic. We also get to see much deeper into her relationship with her daughter, told in such a simple way in just a few scenes thanks to their stint on Celebrity Apprentice (one in a car on the way to the first day on set and another in a hallway after Joan apparently (we don't see the actual event) shuts down at a cast meet and greet.) I almost cringed at the mention of Celebrity Apprentice, but I stuck with it...for Joan...because I know she had to stick with it. It was a job she needed to take for so many reasons, which you will discover watching the film yourself. The biggest reason was one she didn't seem to even grasp...winning! (lightning!)

The big question is (at least for me...and this site!) how long the lightning storm will last. She talks about how the critics never really embrace her. But they certainly have with this film. Now...will the Academy embrace her? In the documentary category, celebrity docs (The September Issue, Tyson, Valentino: The Last Emperor) don't do so well. Heck. They don't even get nominated. But the Academy loves a comeback. And although Joan might say, "what comeback? I never went anywhere," in terms of acceptance, it is one. I am personally tired of every documentary nominated being a stroll down misery lane. This film deserves (at least at the year's halfway point) a nomination. But...if she gets the nomination, won't that diminish the subject of the film?

Who gives a f#$*. Nominate the c&^#!

Lightly engaging documentary on "the actress who played a comedienne"

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 7 September 2017]

Well-produced, though not particularly incisive documentary on the career of groundbreaking stand-up comic Joan Rivers, one where the (rehearsed) humor and (probably rehearsed) pathos do not especially work their way into your heart, but which is a must-see for historians of comedy--especially now that the star's raspy voice and self-deprecating jokes have been forever silenced. Writing and rehearsing a comedy play (with much stand-up in it), Rivers is seen opening the show in Scotland and England, but is apprehensive about taking the production to New York City (where the star assumes her critics are laying in wait, their poison pens at the ready). This seems odd for a popular, much-loved talent who had some of her greatest triumphs in the Big Apple. Brief introductions and interviews with Joan's staff and circle of friends achieve absolutely nothing (except padding the film's running-time); although, when Rivers is seen on-stage, playing Performer, all the excess drama and neuroses are neatly filtered out. The woman was positively in her element while in the spotlight. **1/2 from ****

Incredible documentary

[preppy-3 · 10/10 · 21 June 2010]

A documentary that followed Joan Rivers for an entire year when she turned 75. She talks directly to the camera and opens up about her life, her job, her family and what makes her tick. I should admit that I love Rivers! Her jokes are mean but hysterical. Seeing her here she comes across as insecure and a workaholic...but you don't pity her and she doesn't ask you too. She just wants us to see her as she really is. What was really surprising was seeing her with her daughter Melissa. Melissa comes off as cold and unfeeling--NOT the image she ever gave before. Also there is footage of Rivers on stage. Her act is incredibly profane--but hysterical! My audience would gasp and then break up at her lines. An excellent documentary of a very complex woman. A 10 all the way!

She was a piece of work, whether you like her or not.

[deloudelouvain · 6/10 · 18 April 2020]

I made a mistake watching this documentary, but my bad, I thought it was going to be a stand-up comedy. I just wanted to laugh a bit, certainly not watch a documentary about her life. I know Joan Rivers from seeing her somewhere on television, never really watched anything with her so I had no clue if the comedy would be good or not, and now I still don't know since it was a documentary. There is the odd joke every now and then but nothing where I could judge her comedy level, although she clearly has a funny bone. So about the documentary, it's well done, I'd give them that. I know everything I didn't want to know about Joan Rivers. I know she's really into knowing what people think of her, a bit of an attention seeker if you ask me, so not really a person I would want to meet in real. I know she loved plastic surgery, that's pretty obvious when you see how she looks now, all deformed and alien like. I will never get why women do that to themselves, it's an absolute myth that any men like women that look like that. It makes them look very insecure, fear of aging, and again attention seeking. Again not a woman I want to meet in real life. The absolute irony is her dying from a plastic surgery going wrong, at 81, do you really need more plastic surgery at 81? This documentary is made when she was 75, looking for more jobs, appearances, commercials etcetera, another human being that just doesn't know when to quit the rat race. Again a woman I don't want to know in real life. So I basically watched a documentary about a woman that isn't interesting to me. The only thing I liked of her was that she says anything she wants whenever she wants, politically incorrect or not, for that I appreciate her, but that's about it. Too bad they didn't show more of her jokes and stand-up comedies. Instead I had to endure her mini me, her daughter Melissa, that looks like she will become another woman that I absolutely don't want to meet. The fakeness and drama drips of her, even worse than her mother. I still give this documentary a six because it's well made, I know everything about Joan Rivers now, so you can say it's an accurate documentary. It's just too bad it's useless information. Information I will try to clear from my memory as soon as possible.

Joan bares it all

[moviemanMA · 8/10 · 4 January 2011]

In Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg's documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, we get an up close and personal behind one of the hardest working woman in show-business. From her youthful aspirations to become an actress, we find out that comedy wasn't always priority number one on Joan's list. Comedy was a way to support her acting career. She later notes that you can make fun of her comedy career all you want, but leave her acting abilities alone. She even suggests that she is an actress playing a comedienne.

Following a successful appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, her career was and her "industry" was set in stone. There was no turning back. From performing her act in Vegas and her hosting of The Tonight Show for Johnny on numerous occasions. Her comedy was (and is) in your face. If a joke is thought to be too edgy, she knows she hit her mark.

I'll let you fill in the rest when you see the movie, but this isn't about where Joan has gone or the accomplishments she has achieved. It's about who Joan is today, how she is constantly looking to reinvent herself and stay fresh. Her unbridled enthusiasm for performing and staying busy. Her commitment to family and helping others.

In the film, we see Joan talking on the phone, looking for an endorsement deal. She says she'll speak for anything, including adult diapers and male enhancement drugs. She's not a sell out, but is willing to thrust herself upon the masses in order to get noticed. Through much of the film we see her working on a stage play, a sort of autobiographical play where she delves into what it's like to be Joan. Her concern isn't about whether or not people will like her, but whether or not they will accept her back into the mainstream. She is well aware that people view her as the poster child for plastic surgery. She is well aware that her age (75) is something that can hurt her to land a job. Does that stop her? It only strengthens her desire to succeed.

While some people will view this movie as a cry for attention, and I can see how they would feel this way. Joan lives a life of luxury, in a posh, elegant, and expensive apartment in New York City. Her need to live luxuriously and with all of the plastic surgery stems from her past where she never felt nor was never told she was beautiful. She needs this things in order to feel pretty, to feel like there is a reason to wake up.

That is not what this film is about. We are not meant to feel bad for someone who doesn't feel pretty. We are meant to see a woman who gives her all for her fans, whom she adores, and her family, that she cares for tremendously, especially her daughter and grandson. There is a brief moment where she sits down to write out a stack of checks, both for herself and also to others, like family members who attend private school and whatnot. She doesn't bat an eye at this stack, but breezes through them because she knows they must be paid for.

Her comedy might not be your cup of tea, but I think we can all learn something from this relentless woman. A life devoted to work and to family. What a piece of work. It's a shame that this film was left off the short list for Best Documentary for the Oscars. I hope you will all see it nonetheless.

Great, don't miss it

[gymowner · 10/10 · 23 December 2010]

Joan has always been my favorite female comic. I met her in the 60's,and again in the early 70's. She was performing in L.A., and my good friend, and now retired VP of Sasson, "at one time did her hair", had got us tickets at the "Little Club", where we were able to see her hone her craft. She is tired of being called a ground breaking female comic, as she mentioned, but she is that and more. I think she is more afraid of life, than death. She really shouldn't have to work as hard as she does, even though she loves it. She took a bad shot with her ex, who stepped in sxxx, when he met her. Bernie Madoff could have managed her money better. But she is a class act, a pro of the highest degree, born to do what she does. We are blessed to still have her around, and for my 2 cents, I hope she stays healthy and is around forever. She is like the Sinatra of what she does. Watch the film.

This is a Fantastic Documentary

[celticjunkie · 9/10 · 20 December 2010]

I cannot believe Joan is over 75 years old and is still a relatively healthy, sharp, and current performer. I just adore her on E! Network's Fashion Police and I wanted to learn more about her, so I watched this documentary on DVD. I am impressed beyond words with her natural talent and work ethic. Although I am not a fan of the Botox and the plastic surgeries, I can see past them to view the funny but insecure genius beneath. The scene where Joan encounters the heckler was heartbreaking but she handled it correctly as a stand-up, and not as a parent. The crowd was paying for funny, not maudlin, and so Joan delivered, despite reservations afterward. I was surprised about her constant worry over money, not something I would have thought she'd be concerned about. (But, goodness, that apartment!) And the honesty over Edgar's suicide and her break with Johnny Carson made for some interesting moments as well. I highly recommend this film for anyone interested in either Joan or in the career of a stand-up comedian/actress.

75 and still funny.

[Blueghost · 19 July 2010]

I just saw this film about an hour ago, and liked what I saw. I'm not a big Joan River's fan. In fact, I'm not one of her fans at all, but this film gave me a slice of her life at what for some is considered elderly.

Not for Joan. For her 75 is the new 40. Tell any active person of years and they'll tell you just that.

I don't have a whole lot to say about this movie. It was interesting, funny, and just kind of a pleasant watch. Joan works hard, has her causes, and does her best to remind the world that she's still alive and spewing some pretty risqué humor.

It's not a film I'd see again, but it's a film I'm glad I saw. It reminded me of a clique of show businesses that I think a lot of former production types would just assume avoid or watch from a distance as we setup lights and cameras. There's some infighting, some exposition of personal problems, all the usual "life of a star" kind of stuff that gets covered in these kinds of films.

Is her life inspirational? Sure. But it's also got a bit of the dramatic, and by that I don't mean in either her act or in this film. What I mean is that we have a huge variety of media outlets. The super-stardom of yesteryear where major outlets were fawned over and coveted are gone. Your local TV station and network affiliates are still there as well as the local movie houses, but the kind of controlled stardom that used to be governed by studio heads is no longer the simple exposure process that it once was.

But Joan hangs in there like a champ. In some ways she's still fighting for attention using classic tried and true practices. It seems to work for her, and her battle continues. But, in my opinion, it may be for naught as social media continues to diversify and allow more individuals to come in and create their own "stardom", so to speak.

Still, Joan plays the game by hitting the show circuit, including play houses, clubs, cruise liners, and even guest television appearances. She's alive and still entertaining, and will more than likely do so for many years to come.

Check it out.

A Life Progressed

[doctorsmoothlove · 10/10 · 20 December 2010]

The opening vignette of Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work features the then 75 year-old performer without any makeup. She tells us that she awakens every day and immediately applies her beauty products because, "no one wants an old woman". Joan indicates that her bodily alterations, including multiple plastic surgeries, are not simply out her own vanity but out of a desire to remain youthful. As she painfully indicates, the appearance of youth is necessary to remain relevant, or at least attempt to do so. Joan's observations on aging are among other aspects of her life that are examined in this comely documentary.

Joan is addicted to what has become her work: comedic entertainment. She did not desire this career, but no one takes her seriously as a non-comedic actress. She has accepted her role and incorporates it into her daily life in relentless pursuit of her business opportunities. As described by her staff and friends, her mania is incredible. She desires nearly every hour of every day to be occupied with stand up performances, book signings, or even TV shows. Joan is also remarkably organized and shows us her categorization process for jokes from each performance. Regardless of what she does, Joan seems to succeed in it.

Or so we thought. No, her life isn't a silicone fairy tale. Many slots remain unfulfilled on her calendar and her personality aggravates people. Joan has a unique combination of entitlement and obsession that causes her friends and even her own daughter to become frustrated with her. Perhaps her outrageous "door-opening" comedy over the last decades was a manifestation of this. If she was going to be funny, Joan had to be sure that people would remember her. And it wasn't because she was trying to be a revolutionary. Joan simply wanted and still wants more work opportunities. After half a century undermining herself (by being unable to do what she wants), shouldn't she at least be able to do it peacefully? Apparently not. As we are reminded several times, business is cyclical and sometimes it isn't there. Other times it is. Rivers' style of comedy is polarizing to the point where people are alienated by it. We see how it has been this way for decades, especially when she was younger, and raunchy humor was unspeakable. Today, Joan is still counterintuitive to political correctness, but the world is more tolerant to her humor. Originally, the fact that she was a woman speaking such vulgarity made it funnier. Nowadays, this same business specialty still exists, and it's even funnier because she's an old woman. In her words, "I'm still opening doors." The film's placing her within her real-life working environment is all the more satisfying.

River's life and character flaws make for an interesting story. A summation of her accomplishments and ironic role as a feminist figure would have been a fine subject for a documentary. We would still enjoy that kind of film. Yet, despite everything she has done, Joanie is still alive and still in your face. The filmmakers' recognition of her self-view allows them to rebuke our own pre-conceived opinions of both the woman herself and how we place her within history. As we get to know her as she now is, I can't think of a better way to document her life. The film is as emotional and funny as its subject. That triumph results in one of the best films of the year.

Recommended

Joan Rivers: rest in peace.

[Quietb-1 · 4/10 · 18 June 2010]

If you only see one Documentary this year...miss this one.

While it's well made, and skillfully edited, (place cutting joke here) how much time do you want to spend with Joan Rivers? Like a shark that has to move through the water or die, she has to work or perish. The main thing you get, anyone who can stay in Joan Rivers's life deserves combat pay. The Johnny Carson impact on her life was interesting. There are some laughs. The footage with her grandson was touching.

It often feels repetitive and drags at times. It could be shorter. "The Celebrity Apprentice" footage especially with her daughter would not be missed. With so many more interesting people and issues in the world a star on Hollywood Boulevard is enough and perhaps more appropriate then a documentary.

Well done doc that's blunt, brash, historical, and informative. It shows a lot of sides of the legendary female comedy queen!

[blanbrn · 9/10 · 15 December 2010]

Joan Rivers love her or hate her one thing is for certain this biography docudrama titled "A Piece of Work" is highly enjoyable as it shows a personal side of Joan, really it tells the history of her show business days. As you the viewer see old clips, and you get treated to interviews from other comics like Kathy Griffin and interviews with agents and managers are telling. Also hearing the mouth of Joan is a juicy treat as Rivers is always outspoken.

This is a woman of many sides revealing is how her humble start on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" helped launch her comedy stand up life. Only to later become Carson's fill in host only to have it end nasty with John when Joan left for FOX to start her own show(which would later fail)actually the two never spoke again. And heartbreaking is when you hear Joan talk about the suicide of husband Edgar, and how it strained the relationship with her only child a daughter Melissa(who's sexy and beautiful).

Aside from those setbacks this woman has stood out in the cruel rains of the comedy and television world since the late 60's. And this doc does a good job of following her around aside from the clips, and interviews you see what it's like backstage and the grueling travels that exhaust Joan as she goes city to city. And many think she's cruel and cold, but not as it's revealing and nice seeing her give some food to homeless people in New York City on Thanksgiving. And my personal favorite was her speech to honor my favorite comedian the late great George Carlin as Joan gave a speech on his behalf. And rewarding was her winning of Donald Trump's "Apprentice" this past season.

Really this doc shows the high and lows of Joan it proves with her interviews she's emotional, conflicted and brash, yet caring and outrageously funny. This film is an all access stage pass to her life and one year journey of all in between. It's clear that Joan at 75 proves she's still one of the best, love her or hate her Rivers is a stand up figure who's iconic and tough as nails strong with brash sassy wit and intelligence. This title rings so true Joan Rivers is clearly "A Piece of Work".

Dancing as fast as she can . . .

[The_Film_Cricket · 7 September 2014]

In 1993, I sat in the audience for one of Joan Rivers' stand-up shows, seated way back in the nosebleed section – practically in the rafters – from my vantage point she was a tiny blur on the stage. Her voice, however, was not. It was loud, raspy, boisterous and unmistakably Joan. Her comedy was obscene, crude, vulgar, at times shocking but it was also unmercifully funny – you don't survive in comedy for forty years by being mediocre.

Joan Rivers died this week leaving behind a legacy that was as funny as it was groundbreaking. She wasn't dainty. She wasn't a lady in any traditional sense. She was loud and had a big mouth, and part of the reason for that is that her career blossomed at a time when women typically didn't do stand-up. Women in comedy mostly found themselves in situation comedies, mostly in the straight man role. In other words, she had a fight for it and she had to create a persona that would get everyone's attention.

It is reasonable to assume that the best way to experience a comedian is to see them on stage. That is the best way to experience their talent. In order to get under their skin, it takes a special kind of lens. For Joan Rivers, it was an extraordinary 2010 documentary called Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, a movie that not only exposed her talent but helps us understand who she was as a person. I didn't know Joan Rivers except in a few bits on television now and then. I never really understood the person under the boisterousness until I saw this film.

The film followed one year in the life of this living legend who, at 75, showed no signs of slowing down. Through a face rendered almost immobile by innumerable trips to the plastic surgeon she reminded us that she spent her life dancing as fast as she can, as if she was fearful that she would vanish. At her rapid pace, she never lost her edge. This despite a career and a life that wasn't always sunshine and roses. From failed marriages to banishment from "The Tonight Show", to health problems, to her husband's suicide, to a near-addiction to plastic surgery, you can imagine that a conglomeration of these experiences would bring anyone else to a nervous breakdown. Joan seemed to keep dancing in order to stay afloat.

What the movie reveals is a woman whose boisterous personality masked a great deal of insecurity. Early in the film she shows one of her date books from years past, filled with scheduled shows and many, many crossed-out appointments, some crowded onto the same day. "That's happiness," she says. Then she turns to a page full of empty dates and says seriously "That's fear. If my book ever looked like this, it would mean that nobody wants me, that nobody loved me." There is a painful truth in this scene, that somewhere buried under that brash personality was someone who needed her public life in an effort to feel needed.

Joan Rivers was a tireless worker, moving like a runaway train to remain at the top of her game even into her 80s. In the film, she goes through her overly decorated home where she shows us a joke file, set up like a library card system where she kept the jokes that popped into her head. She was determined to keep herself fresh and original. Early in the film we see one of her stand up routines. There she is, 75 and still loaded with boundless energy. There she is, crude and obscene, but there she is, full of energy and hysterically funny.

Rivers, who had been working in show business for more than four decades, established herself in the arena of stand-up comedy by discussing topics - tampons, sex, abortions - that women didn't discuss even in private. She was working in an extremely male dominated arena, doing material that even most of the men backed away from. During a clip of one of her early trips to Johnny Carson's show, the host suggests that men prefer intellectual women. "Oh please!" Joan says, "No man ever put his hand up a woman's skirt looking for a library card!" What I see in Joan Rivers, and what this documentary displays most honestly, is that comics are always needy. There's some discomfort inside of them to always keep themselves new and different for fear that they will become a has-been or worse stale and dated. Joan Rivers was a woman racing to stay ahead of the train. She created the persona of a loud, overbearing Jewish woman who spoke her mind. It was a persona that never left her. She is fearless and determined that she would never give up. Late in her life, her personality didn't change. What you could see was a woman who had lived a life that would have killed a lesser person. She was straightforward, and you got the idea that she had outlived and outfoxed all the games life plays. If life dealt her a bad hand, she didn't falter. She just grabbed the mike, and kept doing the thing that she did best.

Funny, touching, and illuminating

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 3 December 2019]

Following a single turbulent year in the life of controversial trail-blazing comedienne Joan Rivers, this documentary pulls zero punches in its warts'n'all depiction of Rivers as a tough and determined, yet still insecure and vulnerable woman who can't stand the thought of retirement or no longer being relevant. Rivers opens up and lets us see the wounded humanity behind her brash persona and fiercely biting sense of say-it-like-you-see-it abrasive humor by candidly discussing the suicide of her husband Edgar, her legendary feud with Johnny Carson, strained relationship with her daughter Melissa, and, of course, her obsession with plastic surgery that ties directly in with her dread of getting older and becoming irrelevant as she ages.

Whether doing her best to endure the humiliating ordeal of a savage celebrity roast or tearing apart a heckler while performing her stand-up routine at a lesser venue in rural Wisconsin, one can't help but admire this tireless workaholic's indomitable fighting spirit as she continues to plug away since for Rivers being on stage and making people laugh (plus getting their applause and approval) was the one thing that made her entire life worth living period. And another thing about Joan Rivers is for certain: She most definitely did not go quietly into the night; instead she faced life's ups and downs with an earthy humor and steely resilient attitude that was uniquely her own.

A look inside the inappropriate Rivers

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 10 June 2014]

Joan Rivers has never been shy and this is no exception. We see her warts and all. Normally, a documentary with a co-operating subject can be too one-sided. Joan is too happy to give both sides ... on most subjects.

Joan is still doing the clubs and working hard. It's getting tougher and tougher. Kathy Griffin is taking the bigger gigs. Her biggest fear is an empty day planner. She's a workaholic with brass balls.

For the inappropriate comedian, the most controversial part is probably her time with Johnny Carson. She has a specific take on the events. I just wish we get the other side. That's the only thing obviously missing. In general, we get a real insightful look into her life.

An overlooked gem

[gilligan-11 · 8/10 · 13 February 2011]

"A Piece of Work" is a very apt subtitle for this film, since it sums up rather succinctly the driving force behind Joan Rivers' career—she is a woman constantly on the lookout for her next piece of work. Perpetually aware of just how difficult it is to hit a moving target, Rivers never seems to slow down. At the age of 75, she keep herself busier than many working actors/comedians 1/3 her age. Ricki Stern's film chronicles Rivers' career, from her beginnings on "The Tonight Show" through her stint as permanent guest host, her devastating decision to leave that show for her own talk show (a decision that created a rift between Rivers and Johnny Carson that never healed), her husband's suicide, and her struggle to recover from it both personally and professionally. Rivers' daughter Melissa is of course a big part of this film, and her presence creates perhaps an unintentional stark contrast to Rivers herself. Joan is the consummate hard-working, smart, talented, honest professional entertainer, while her daughter, who claims to have chosen a career in show business, actually possesses little or no talent and has forged a "career" in entertainment simply by virtue of her status as Joan's daughter. If Melissa Rivers were not Joan's daughter, I doubt she would be able to find any work at all in the entertainment industry. Be that as it may, "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" is a penetrating and entertaining documentary about the life and career of one of the funniest—if not THE funniest—women in the business.

The Queen of Mean

[ldavis-2 · 3/10 · 9 January 2011]

"A Piece of Work" begins with Joan Rivers looking like a refugee from "Night of the Living Dead" before tons of make-up transform her into something resembling a human being. This peek behind the pose may seem brave to some. To me, it confirmed that Rivers has turned herself into Leona Helmsley! A few more gos under the knife, she'll turn herself into Michael Jackson!

"A Piece of Work" actually has a lot to say about the nature of celebrity. Rivers has money and fame, but what she really wants is status, which is why she attends a Kennedy Center tribute to George Carlin, although, as she points out, the tribute represents everything Carlin was against, namely rich Republicans (yuk, yuk). That Carlin made millions off of his feigned disdain for the establishment is lost on Rivers. That you have to earn respect in order to get respect is lost on her, too.

Kathy Griffin prattles about how Rivers paved the way for her, but that's the extent of the props, which is telling yet not surprising. Like Helmsley, Rivers is an utterly unlikeable creature who makes Snooki look dignified. The tirade during one of her routines about her daughter nixing an offer to pose for Playboy made me want to wash my ears out with soap! Little wonder her manager bails on her every chance he gets, her staffers put up with her only because she pays them, and her daughter (a wanna-be A-lister herself) can't stand being in the same room with her for longer than five minutes. Only once, when she and her grandson (whom she seems to adore) visit an ailing photographer does Rivers seem to get that the world does not revolve around her. But maybe, that was just part of her act.