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100The Lebowitz film, Public Speaking, directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Graydon Carter--combines hilarious, contemporary interviews with Lebowitz about life in NYC, mixed with old clips of her in the Andy Warhol days, and great clips of her appearances on old talk shows.
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75This may not be Martin Scorsese's most sophisticated film, but it actually takes a smart filmmaker to understand that, with a subject like Fran Lebowitz, the best thing you can do is let her talk.
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60She seems distant and a little wary, like someone who has carefully built a comfortable life and sees no reason to invite a lot of strangers in. Her relationship with us is what she sees and shares. In the end, that seems fair enough.
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80Public Speaking perfectly captures the pleasure she takes in observing the world while subtly revealing the crippling dimensions of perfectionism, the outsize ego it requires to achieve a certain kind of creative failure.
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60Given the number of dunderheaded pundits holding forth nightly, Lebowitz does feel like a throwback to a wittier era. That said, Scorsese could have gotten his point across in a third less time--as Public Speaking demonstrates, twice over, how even ballsy Manhattan artist types can benefit from an editor's touch.
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60Public Speaking often seems to be trying to relaunch the Fran Lebowitz brand, 25 years past its expiration date. It feels like the kind of movie that old friends would make about an old friend. Which is precisely what it is.
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60Without any framing background information, this affectionate documentary and its continual monologues can feel a little too insidery and indulgent.
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100She's a smart, funny, eccentric elitist who isn't afraid to tell us what she thinks of us or herself. Listen with an open mind, and you should find her sometimes scathing honesty is bracing rather than off-putting.
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80Scorsese's documentary offers us a long overdue taste of her unique, queasily accurate perspectives on our culture--always right, never fair and never disappointing.