The Salesan

“The Salesman”, an Iranian film, written and directed by Asghar Farhadi, has been nominated for Best Foreign Film in this year’s upcoming Academy Awards presentations. This is a film worthy of such an honor as its stars, Shabab Hoosini and Taraneh Alidoosti, portray a married couple involved in live theater as they perform the play within the play, i.e. “Death of a Salesman” ( hence the film’s title). In most cases dialogue in a foreign language with English titles can be a significant obstacle for an audience to properly enjoy a film’s value and worth but such is not the case here. The well written script, the delicate and sensitive directing and the superb acting make this a suspenseful, intense and important viewing experience. I give the film 3 and ½ stars for, as any salesman will tell you, a quality product sells itself.

The Comedian

“The Comedian” stars Robert De Niro in the title role supported by Leslie Mann, Harvey Keitel, Danny DeVito, Patti LuPone, Edie Falco and spot performances by Billy Crystal, Richard Belzer, Cloris Leachman and Charles Grodin. Written by Art Linson (with help from stand up comics Jeff Ross, Richard LaGravenes and Lewis Friedman) the film was directed by Taylor Hackford (‘The Devil’s Advocate”, “Ray”, “An Officer and a Gentlemen’). Unfortunately, with all of these fine participants, the film is a disappointment and leaves the viewer with a feeling that, somewhere, in all of this writing and acting, there is a good film that never quite made it to the screen. Mr. De Niro’s character is an aging once famous television star seeking a comeback as a standup comic. Instead, he becomes a coarse deliverer of smut and insult that makes his audiences (both on and off the screen) squirm in discomfort and, in comparison, makes Don Rickles look like Mother Teresa. Mr. De Niro, as always, radiates a likeable persona but even that wonderful trait cannot save the film from earning only 1 and 1/2 stars. He, Mr. Hackford and the writers could have done much more with the seeds of a good idea that never quite grew into a worthy flower of entertainment.