It isn't from the painful relationship between his girlfriend, or his addictions. It is from how I remembered this film when Andrew Dice Clay was being attacked for his portrayal in Ford Fairlane (which was an excellent comedy). I was young when this movie was made, and it takes place before I was born. So, I don't know if this movie was accurate. However, this is the irony. Bruce was supposed to be Anti-Establishment. He was lambasting a society that wanted to close its doors on taboos - such as sex, race relations, etc. We had won that war by the 1980s. Then, along came "political correctness". The Anti-Establishment became even worse than the Establishment of old. At least, younger people were already revolting against it by the 1960s. However, the same younger generation that won the 60s suddenly turned "clean". Bruce, may have not have had a wonderful personal life, but at least he was speaking his mind and heart, and not being shut out by the "political correctness" of the time. This is why this movie makes me so sad. It makes me think of the days, when there were painful realities, but people were more human, less perfectionistic, and could speak their minds. And by the late 80s, that World died with the birth of "political correctness". No longer could there be Lenny Bruce's - speaking their hearts and minds. In the old day, the "blue meanies" were the Hooverites. Now, they are the Neo Yuppies who have taken away whatever voice and freedom we used to have in this country. This movie was not great, but it was interesting. Hoffman can carry most roles, and he did a pretty good impersonation. He was a lovable and dislikeable person. He did bad things, but he had a heart, too. He was a person who was imperfect, but trying in many ways to speak his mind. It is too bad that nowadays these days are long gone. We no longer can tell the truth and be enraged. Someone now tells us that we are "unpolitically correct" for trying to speak the truth. That is why this movie is so sad.

As long as I can remember, I've been a massive fan of stand-up comedy. I think that these days there are very few comedians who are worth their weight, but the joy of watching the few who are is almost unparalleled. It's no secret that Lenny Bruce changed the face of stand-up, becoming a pioneer for such contemporaries as Louis C.K. and Bill Burr, my two favorite comedians. Bruce came into a world that was scared to speak the truth, scared to laugh at the absurdity of human behavior and he held up a mirror to the world and said, "Look at yourself, aren't you ridiculous?".For it's time, the idea of doing this was shocking and wildly controversial. People saw him as vulgar and offensive, when he was really just speaking the truth that people were afraid to here. He evolved the game and it's only fair that an actor like Dustin Hoffman, a fellow pioneer of his career field, was selected to portray Bruce in this stark and honest biographic tale. My general stance towards Hollywood biopics is that I'm strongly against them, believing that to condense the life of a human being into a two or three hour film is impossible, but the script here by Julian Barry, adapting from his own play, does a strong job of taking the important parts of Bruce's life and leaving the rest behind.Unfortunately it does fall into a lazy trap of this genre, using a structure that functions around post-death interviews with those closest to Bruce in order to tell the story of his rise and fall. What's interesting though is that it doesn't play it straight in the sense of going back and forth between post-death and the chronological rise of Bruce; it does do this, but it also throws in another period, Bruce's last routine on stage. This adds an interesting twist onto this worn out structure and makes watching his rise even more intriguing to witness.We see him on stage, miraculously portrayed by Hoffman, with a full beard, exhausted expression and a wild, kinetic energy; a refusal to give up and sit down, an almost desperate need to get out all of the words he needs to say before he is stopped again. Bruce is almost a protester here, grabbing his microphone and shouting towards anyone who will listen to understand the crimes against humanity that are being permitted every day. Seeing him in this state makes it even more interesting to see where he began, as we now must wonder what happens to turn the nebbish and soft Bruce we meet in his earliest time period into the biting and confident man he will later become.Bob Fosse directs it all with his own unique flare, and some razor-sharp editing keeps things feeling fresh and as kinetic as the man the whole thing is based around. I also want to mention the cinematography, which is honestly some of the best I've ever come across. It's presented in black and white, which was a wonderful idea to match Bruce's style as a performer, and the way that the shots are composed and lit is a visual orgasm in every way. This is one of those films that I wanted to pause every five seconds just to marvel at the way it was shot, but I couldn't allow myself to step away from seeing more of Bruce.Everyone in the cast and crew do marvelous work here, but there's no denying that the film belongs to one man and that man is Dustin Hoffman. His performance is one of titanic proportions here, a slow-burn of pure genius, bringing Bruce along that evolutionary path to the man we know he will one day become. Lenny Bruce goes through many stages before he becomes the comedic icon that we initially see, and Hoffman plays them all with an absorbed authenticity that is purely magical. Looking back in time we see when he first meets his future wife Honey, and the utter bliss and childish joy on his face would be beautiful if it wasn't so heartbreaking knowing what he will eventually become.It's in the later stages that Hoffman truly lifts off though, when Bruce is in and out of prison and struggling with a drug addiction. Bruce becomes a bastion for free speech and social commentary, but more the film presents him as something more human than that; a flawed creature who for all of his evolutionary changes to media was also a very broken man within himself. There is a scene where Bruce does a routine wearing nothing but a raincoat and one sock, while he's riding high on drugs, that might just be the finest piece of acting I've seen my entire life.The scene is about ten minutes long, but it feels like it lasts an eternity. Normally this would be a complaint, but here it couldn't be a stronger compliment, as Hoffman takes us through this horrific state that the man is in at the time. With his lapses in silence, his rambling dialogues and his stop and start speech patterns, it's like watching a train wreck that you can't stare away from and you just keep hoping will be over soon. You want it to stop but you know that you aren't going to look away until it does.This colossal feat of acting would be impressive on it's own, but the fact that Hoffman does all of it in one take makes it something truly out of this world. It's a performance that stands at the very top of the all-time greats, in a film that is as brutally honest towards Lenny Bruce as he was towards the rest of the world.

The story of acerbic 1960s comic Lenny Bruce (Dustin Hoffman), whose groundbreaking, no-holds-barred style and social commentary was often deemed by the Establishment as too obscene for the public.This film seems to have gone under the radar over the years, and even Dustin Hoffman is not widely recognized for this role. He nailed the role beginning to end. Hoffman was best as Bruce, however, when he had the beard because otherwise he looks too much like Dustin Hoffman and the role is not as believable. Beyond that, the film is a great story of a life and of freedom of speech and of social commentary -- what is and what is not okay to discuss. Bruce wisely argues that the suppression of controversial words gives them power, and we find that the word (deleted) can be found in the works of such great authors as Aristophanes and Jonathan Swift.Whether Lenny Bruce is the greatest comic or not is debatable and rather doubtful, but it is quite easy to say he was the primary influence behind the best comics of the next generation (such as Bill Hicks and George Carlin).Bob Fosse is incredible as director. He may be best known for musicals and choreography, but the material here is presented in a way that grabs you and turns a stage performance into something more. The use of black and white was an interesting stylistic choice and why it was done is unclear, but it does give the film a more artistic look.

Lenny is the story of the controversial comedian Lenny Bruce whose wild antics and crude humor lead to rise and ultimately his fall. This film though takes the risk of being shaped in a documentary-esquire design. Watching the opening minutes of the film worried me that this film would retreat into itself rather then expand in the so many aspects in which it actually did.Lenny is portrayed with extraordinary and edgy depth by Dustin Hoffman. For me, this is the film that convinced me that Dustin Hoffman is truly a first rate actor. The range shown here by him from beginning to end is astounding in not his portrayal of the change in his personality, but in the drastic but slow transformation in his mental and psychological state. The range of the cast in general is quite commendable in the break stints in the film in which they are shown to be interviewed individually on the life of Lenny Bruce.With this unique style of film making, much credit should be given to Bob Fosse who brings an original visual experience. Also the screenplay by Julian Barry is totally engaging. In my opinion this movie is indicative of the revolutionary style brought to movies during the 1970s. Lenny might be one of the most courageous movies ever made and it reaches its full potential.