The last time we saw the brilliant Albert Brooks onscreen, he was playing himself in the Season 11 premiere of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” on HBO in October of 2021, with Brooks staging a “live funeral” for himself at his home so he could watch the memorial in his upstairs bedroom while his friends paid their respects — a tribute that goes sideways when it’s discovered Albert is a COVID supplies hoarder.
As the outraged “mourners” storm out and Jon Hamm exclaims, “I hope you REALLY die!” Brooks tries to get the guests to stay (“Come on, I’ve got flu shots!”) before deadpanning to Larry, “Maybe we’ll try again next year.”
It was yet another golden moment in a resumé filled with memorable work, from Brooks’ early and innovative routines on variety and talk shows in the 1960s and 1970s through his landmark contributions to “Saturday Night Live” to his beloved films including “Modern Romance” and “Lost in America” to his stellar career as a dramatic supporting player in “Taxi Driver,” “Out of Sight” and “Drive” to voicing Marlin in “Finding Nemo.” What a career!
With Brooks’ close friend Rob Reiner as director and interviewer, the HBO documentary “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” serves as a wonderful greatest hits retrospective of Brooks’ invaluable contributions to the entertainment world as well as a brief but insightful look at Brooks’ upbringing, which provides some therapist couch-worthy insights into his motivations and his particular brand of comedy.
Reiner and Brooks have known each other since their days at Beverly Hills High School (Richard Dreyfuss also was a classmate), and as they share memories and laughs in a warm and funny conversation at the West Los Angeles restaurant Matteo’s, it’s a treat for us to eavesdrop while Reiner casually and skillfully guides Brooks through the stages of his career.
The 76-year-old Brooks, who has pretty much looked the same for the last 25 years, is a wonderful storyteller, finding humor and warmth even in the darker moments, as when he tells the story of his comedian father, who was known as “Parkyakarkus” and died of a heart attack at a Friar’s Club roast of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, shortly after his routine had killed, so to speak.
Of course, there’s a treasure trove of archival clips, as well as interviews with Jon Stewart, Nikki Glaser, Ben Stiller, Tiffany Haddish, Conan O’Brien, Larry David, Steven Spielberg and David Letterman, who notes that he’d rather have had Brooks’ career than his own. We’re reminded of the singular nature of Brooks’ films, from his early parody of reality TV with 1979’s “Real Life” to his still hilarious and relevant take on relationships in “Modern Life” to the existential romantic comedy “Defending Your Life,” which features one of the lightest and most endearing performances of Meryl Streep’s career.
It’s also a bit sad to realize Brooks hasn’t made a film since 2005’s “Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World.” But it’s wonderful to see Brooks found love relatively late in life, marrying artist Kimberly Shlain in 1997, and that they have two children, Jacob and Claire, who clearly love their pops.
“Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” is a clever title but not really accurate as this is a pure, unchallenged celebration of one of the great comedic minds in American history.
