Belushi (2020)

 Belushi (2020)

Written and Directed by R.J. Cutler

I suppose many will disagree with this one.

Watched this last night. It had an odd effect. Maybe it was because I had just watched Way Out West, one of the better Laurel and Hardy features, but I came away from Belushi thinking he was way less the skilled, funny, performer that I have previously assumed.

None of the stuff from Saturday Night held up much, The Bee, the racist samurai bit, the reclusive Joe Cocker impersonation, “cheeseburger, cheeseburger”, none if these had any appeal or were in the least funny.

It doesn’t appear that he had the depth, interest, or attention span required to craft anything beyond the hollowest of TV sketch comedy. His work is nothing compared to the SCTV crew, like Harold Ramis who he worked with in the Lampoon Radio show, or any of the others on that classic program, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, yet he had some lowest-common-denominator appeal that elevated him to features.

The features and not great either. Animal House has some yahoo drunk male audience appeal. “Whoo Hoo! Party!” But what else?

And The Blues Brothers act is another white man minstrel show that could afford the hire the best sessions musicians of that genre to help sell it pull is off.

As I said I had looked at this stuff after the comedy genius and crafted performance timing of Laurel and Hardy already 20 years into their amazing film career. Belushi is nothing in comparison.

Near the closing of the doc Tony Hendra says something about the American Success story that Belushi was ultimately a victim of. There is nothing behind that success.

Dead at 33. Belushi is just a kind of pathetic mass media character.

Interesting documentary in unintentionally putting all this on display but not burying the truth in empty praise.