Dustin Hoffman gives a monumental performance as trenchant, troubled comedian Lenny Bruce in Bob Fosse’s Lenny. Following the comic’s career from hack strip club emcee to infamous satirist, Hoffman and Fosse capture the energy of Bruce’s groundbreaking shtick and his unbound, manic intelligence, including re-staging entire Bruce bits verbatim to attain a vivid documentary realism. Nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress, the film ties in his rocky relationship with first wife Honey (the amazing Valerie Perrine), his drug abuse and his many drawn-out obscenity trials. Lenny Bruce told it like it was, pointing out the “sickness” and hypocrisy of post-war American culture, and the film honors his legacy by doing the same, all while painting a hilarious, frustrating and heartbreaking portrait of a 20th century icon.
“Shot in smoky black and white, and suffused with period detail, Fosse’s musical background comes to the fore during some of the extended nightclub routines, where the legendary choreographer stages the stand-up as if Bruce is a master jazz musician, which, in a way, he was.” – Angie Errigo, Empire
