Featuring more than 50 comedy legends including Tom Hanks, Amy Schumer, Matthew Perry, Judd Apatow, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Favreau, Lisa Kudrow, Whoopi Goldberg, Steve Coogan, Stephen Merchant, Martin Short and Larry David, these icons candidly explore their motivations and inspirations in this examination of the age old question: do you really have to be miserable to be funny...?

Directed by Kevin Pollak, whose acting credits include The Usual Suspects and Casino, the star-studded cast of Misery Loves Comedy dig into their earliest comic experiences, most epic fails and tell unforgettable anecdotes to reveal a performer's deep, and perhaps paradoxical, desire to connect with audiences. This master class in comedy offers a rare opportunity to hear comedy icons dissect the art of stand-up and explore how a joke can operate as a blunt tool, a social weapon, or even as a personal elixir. It reminds us that the best humour may be derived from misery, but that it's the comedian's particular brand of truth that helps us all understand a little better what it means to be human.

The basic idea behind this documentary, so the publicity would have us believe, is to explore if those that are funny have to be miserable in order to be amusing. It's a theme that is only touched on briefly and not really explored very well at all. In fact, the movie's title seems to have been added, purely because it's a play on words on a familiar saying.

The documentary interviews numerous comics and asks them standard questions like what drove you to comedy? What in your young years pushed you? and what's it like to bomb on stage?

What the movie doesn't do well is introduce comedians that anyone outside of the USA doesn't know. There are several comics who start to talk about their acts or comedy partners, but unless you know who they are then what they are saying hits home a little less than those who are familiar with their work.

For example Freddie Prince Jnr talks openly and candidly about his comedian father, who committed suicide when he was very young. I had to do an Internet search to discover who Freddie Prince Snr was (I know, I feel terrible for not knowing) and what the circumstances of his death were.

The movie is dedicated to Robin Williams, who tragically took his own life, I assume while this movie was still in production.

I think the movie would have probably faired a little better, and would have made for more interesting viewing, if it had concentrated on comics and how their stage persona can differ greatly from how they are in real life. Why is it some comics can be alive and upbeat on stage, but depressed and antisocial when away from their audience. It could have also explored how comedians deal with their public when they are not performing.

It seems to be that most comics are shy loners who otherwise would like the confidence to stand up for themselves in a social situation; comedy is used to get attention that you'd otherwise not get.

The fact that over 50 comedians are interviewed also means that most get a brief moment in the spotlight and don't really contribute to the debate at all. In fact I was no closer to understanding what drives comedians at the end of the film as I was at the start.

Extras include Trailer (1 min, 43 sec) and Deleted Scenes - which is split down into Freddie Prince Jr. (3 min, 36 sec); Kelly Carlin (2 min, 55 sec); Jimmy Fallon (4 min, 36 sec); and Kevin Smith (6 min, 24 sec).

It's an interesting documentary, but its focus is blurred and rather weak.

6

Darren Rea