Albert Brooks: Defending My Life is a love letter to a comic genius from his best friend, who just so happens to be director Rob Reiner. The pair first met almost 60 years ago in Beverly Hills High School drama class when Albert, who wasn’t paying attention during introductions, tried to impress Rob by telling him he “knew Carl Reiner,” Rob’s father.
Buy Defending Your Life (The Criterion Collection) Blu-rayThe pair sit together a la My Dinner with Andre. After talking about growing up, they go over Albert’s career starting with a treasure trove of archival television footage of what Albert refers to as “conceptual pieces” he did on a different variety and talk shows, such as a mime who talks and an elephant trainer whose animal is sick so he has to replace him with a frog. Surprisingly, he wouldn’t perform his material in clubs before an audience to see how it played. Instead, he felt comfortable simply trying them out in his bathroom mirror before going on national television.
Viewers also get to learn about Albert’s family. His father was Harry Einstein, who played a character called Parkyakarkus, and famously died at a Friar’s Club Roast for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, when Albert was only 11. There’s a touching moment when Albert visits his crypt and reveals he still misses his father. His mother Thelma Leeds was a singer, met his father on a movie, and gave up her career for the family. Albert says his relationship with her influenced his film Mother. Very little mention of Albert’s brother, Bob Einstein, who was Super Dave Osborne, and also Marty Funkhouser on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Rob and Albert progress through his comedy albums, his short films on Saturday Night Live (the show was initially pitched as “The Albert Brooks Show,” and he gave them the idea to have rotating hosts), his movies, and his performances in other movies, which started with Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. Albert gives Rob the business for making a mockumentary (Real Life) five years before he did (This Is Spinal Tap), although Woody Allen beat them both with Take the Money and Run.
And it’s not just Rob who thinks highly of Albert. A star-studded roster of comic talent sings Albert’s praises: Jon Stewart (who credits him as “the first kinda-of alternative comic”), Chris Rock, Conan O’Brien, Wanda Sykes, Ben Stiller, Sarah Silverman, David Letterman, Larry David, Jonah Hill, Judd Apatow, Anthony Jeselnik, Tiffany Haddish, and Nikki Glaser. Also interviewed are filmmakers James L. Brooks (who directed Albert to an Oscar-nominated performance in Broadcast News) and Steven Spielberg (who shot Albert talking to people on the streets of Hollywood with an 8mm camera).
With Albert Brooks: Defending My Life, Rob Reiner certainly makes the case for what a comedic talent Albert has been over the years. It will make fans want to revisit his material and may turn new audiences onto him. The film concludes with Albert telling a story of interacting with an agent that seems the perfect encapsulation of how an artist works within show business.
