I first heard of this
documentary in the local paper last year (?) when it was shown at the SundanceFilm Festival in Park City, where it was very well received. I am only a casual Joan Rivers fan – I
don’t know her stand-up at all and I’ve never read any of her books – but I do
like her scathing repartee on the red carpet and Fashion Police, and I enjoyed her
recent guest spot on Louis CK’s show,Louie. This documentary, which follows Rivers
around for a year, shows a side of Joan never seen before, starting with the
opening credits where we see her WITHOUT ANY MAKEUP. I found the movie to be interesting
and quite touching, in fact: an intimate look at this incredibly hard-working
woman who seems compelled to keep working, who worries about money (since she
supports innumerable family members, plus her large staff, plus her own life of
luxury), who has fought hard for everything she has and opened doors for women
comics, who is fiercely protective of her family (but not so much so that she
won’t occasionally use them as stand-up material). One
of my favorite scenes was when Joan and her grandson were delivering
Thanksgiving meals to shut-ins. They
met a woman suffering from MS who used to be a photographer and whose tiny
apartment was stuffed to the gills with negatives, slides and
photographs. Joan Googled the woman when she got home – Flo Fox – and was
literally moved to tears as she read her story, remarking on how sad it was to
see such a beautiful, edgy, bohemian artist struck down by the disease. Joan Rivers: A Piece of
Work shows Rivers’s humanity and grit, that underneath the drag queen clothes and layers of
plastic surgery beats the heart of dedicated, loyal fighter.
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