In The Best Sense, She Was 'A Piece Of Work'

Here, we repeat our August 2010 review of the documentary Joan Rivers - A Piece of Work. You can find it now on Netflix or on DVD.
We highly recommend it.

All summer long we've been busy trying to track down the widely-heralded documentary, Joan Rivers - A Piece of Work.
We finally caught up with it over the weekend at a local movie house and all we can say is "Whew!"
Joan Rivers is exhausting. She never stands still. Never. Not for a moment
Honored at various film festivals and lauded by fans of cinema verite, Joan Rivers –A Piece Of Work claims to expose the private dramas of irreverent, legendary comedienne and pop icon as she "fights tooth and nail to remain the queen of comedy."
The film reveals a rare glimpse of the comedic process and the toxic mixture of self-doubt and anger that often fuels it. It is often raw and downright brutal, laced with profanity and blue humor.
In the course of the film, Joan Rivers "celebrates" her 75th birthday (she's now 77).
She's not happy about it. She doesn't like getting old. She hates watching the years go buy and she doesn't want to quit working or cede the spotlight. Not now and not ever, if she can help it.
The story is both a searingly funny personal journey and an starkly honest look at the ruthless entertainment industry.
Joan didn't want to be a comedienne. She wanted to be an actress.
But it is as a comedienne that she is able to support herself and live in the grand style to which she has become accustomed. So, a comedienne she is.
We see not only Rivers' elegant trappings of success but also the ultimate vulnerability of the life of a performer. Like most stand up comics, she's hopelessly insecure.
With unguarded access, the film cuts between intimate scenes of Joan’s personal life and her life on stage and in front of cameras and audiences.
Over the course of the year, Joan fights to reinvent herself and put herself back on top. She reveals in private that the years of exposure have taken a toll on her, leaving her raw and alone. In a dressing room before a show, she exposes a much-guarded vulnerability revealing all she has left is her performing.
And so we realize that it is possible to be hugely successful (Rivers is a smart businesswoman and a shrewd, demanding boss) and yet very much alone.
I didn't know very mush about Joan Rivers before I saw this film.
In fact, I had never seen her perform in person.
And I was left with mixed feelings about a woman who I've always admired.
You might call Joan Rivers a realist. You might even call her a pessimist. She knows that the entertainment business takes no prisoners. And she also knows that time is not on her side.
But you also wonder why she hasn't carved out other interests in her life.
Why is performing the only thing?
And why can't she turn the corner and open a new chapter?
After all, she still has a very successful jewelry business. But that's barely mentioned in this documentary.
And she also has her daughter Melissa and her grandson, both of whom she seems to genuinely love very much.
But in this film Joan Rivers often comes off as one-dimensional and almost ruthlessly driven: work, work, work; keep performing; keep entertaining; keep demanding big venues and full houses.
As you watch this, you wanna shout: "Hey Joan, nobody stays on top forever. Nobody."
And yet, few true artists ever seem to want to let go of their art.
In one of the final scenes of the film, Rivers jokes about how this documentary would be an instant hit if she expired right in front of the camera.
But you just know that's not about to happen.
Because Joan Rivers is too busy preserving and updating and burnishing every ounce of who she is.
For better or worse, this is a woman who will not go quietly into that good night.