Synopsis: Explores the life, career, friendships, and loves of legendary writer, director, producer, and performer, Mel Brooks. One of Hollywood’s most daring satirists from the early years of television sketch comedy through his film and stage hits, Brooks has held a funhouse mirror up to the human condition and used laughter as a path to resilience, connection, and joy for nearly a century.
Review: One of the most impactful personalities of the twentieth century across film, television, radio, and stage is Mel Brooks. Just months away from his one-hundredth birthday, Brooks is as lively as ever. With Spaceballs 2 on the horizon and the rewatchability of everything from The Producers to Young Frankenstein and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, there is no question about how much Mel Brooks has impacted multiple generations of comedians, writers, and directors. Director Judd Apatow, one such talent influenced by Brooks, has co-directed the new two-part HBO documentary titled Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man. Split into two feature-length chapters, The 99 Year Old Man is at once a tribute to the living legend that is Mel Brooks as well as a beautiful birthday gift to the man as he nears the century mark. Comprised of new interviews and archival footage, Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man is a wonderful ode to the imprint that Brooks has had on Hollywood and the arts around the world.
The two episodes of Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man each clock in at about 100 minutes each. Part one briefly examines Brooks’ youth and military service before shifting to his early days working for Sid Caesar. Through previous interviews with Dick Cavett, Johnny Carson, and more, Judd Apatow adds contemporary context from Brooks about his formative years and both his first marriage and his second to Anne Bancroft. Experiencing low points after his successful recording of “The Two Thousand Year Old Man” with Carl Reiner, the first episode includes the comedian’s debut directorial effort, The Producers, and his sophomore bomb, The Twelve Chairs, before concluding with the massive game-changer that was Blazing Saddles. Episode two picks up with Young Frankenstein and runs through to the present day, with a look at Brooks’s less successful films like Life Stinks, his starring role opposite his wife Anne Bancroft in To Be or Not To Be, and his eventual acclaim in bringing The Producers to Broadway and setting the record with 12 wins at the Tonys. While we get a look behind the scenes of the various films, the main focus is on how Mel Brooks found his purpose in life and kept positive even when the response was not critical acclaim.
Comprised of interviews with dozens of contemporaries, cast, colleagues, and proteges, the documentary features new interviews with comedians Ben Stiller, Jerry Seinfeld, Adam Sandler, Nick Kroll, Patton Oswalt, Dave Chappelle, Conan O’Brien, Josh Gad, Jimmy Kimmel, Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, and Tracey Ullman; filmmakers Robert Townsend, Peter Farrelly, Jerry & David Zucker, Barry Levinson, and the late David Lynch; actors Bill Pullman, Daphne Zuniga, Cary Elwes, Matthew Broderick, and Nathan Lane; as well as Mel Brooks’ four children Stefanie, Nicolas, Eddie, and Max; and granddaughter Samantha. There is also the bittersweet inclusion of interviews with Rob Reiner, the son of Brooks’ best friend Carl Reiner, which serves as another testament to the late director’s impact on film and his lineage. The way his friends and colleagues speak with adoration about Mel Brooks overshadows the negative reviews he garnered throughout his career, with the lasting legacy of love from his fans serving as the driving force behind Mel’s constant success.
Watching this film, it is very clear that Mel Brooks had two loves in his life: Anne Bancroft and Carl Reiner. The fact that Brooks has outlived every one of the comedians and talents who helped him become a success is bittersweet and seeing how the passing of his wife and his best friend left him shaken is heartbreaking to watch, but seeing Brooks remain ever vigilant to get up each day, give himself some mental tests to get started, and still works on projects like sequels to Spaceballs and Young Frankenstein is a testament to his focus. The new interviews with Mel Brooks and his children and granddaughter give some interesting insight into what kind of a father he was, but The 99 Year Old Man is not a no-holds-barred expose. Yes, the film does present Brooks’ shortcomings as a father, but never to a degree that is anything less than reverent for his status as a comedy icon. We do learn about how Brooks’ Jewish identity and experience in World War II helped shape the direction his sense of humor went in, but there are no apologies for any of his actions or creative choices nor should there be.
The two-part documentary is co-directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio. The duo has helmed several documentary projects together, including George Carlin’s American Dream and May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers. While Bonfiglio remains off-screen, Judd Apatow peeks in during interviews with Brooks, and you can tell it is because of the major impact that the elder statesman of Jewish comedy had on Apatow as a comedian and filmmaker. There have been quite a few documentaries in the past year, including Netflix’s Being Eddie and AppleTV’s Mr. Scorsese, which looked at Eddie Murphy and Martin Scorsese, respectively, but The 99 Year Old Man is a blend of loving tribute and a dive into the behind-the-scenes of Mel Brooks that is not as deep as I would have liked but still incredibly detailed. Including everything about every Mel Brooks project across a century would have been daunting for a long-form series, but Apatow and Bonfiglio do a good job of making the four hours across these two parts fly by.
Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man is the ultimate birthday gift to the legendary comedian that works as a greatest hits supercut of every iconic moment Mel Brooks has been responsible for over the years. Watching this documentary filled me with joy and memories of my experiences watching Mel Brooks throughout my life, and it makes me want to go back and revisit some of his movies that I haven’t seen in quite a while. The 99 Year Old Man proves that laughter can help us through even the most challenging world events, even if it does not necessarily solve them. If Mel Brooks can survive tuberculosis outbreaks, World War II, and the COVID-19 pandemic, still doing it with a smartass demeanor and a smile on his face, the rest of us can learn a lot about what really matters in this world. A great introduction to Brooks for those unfamiliar with his work and a welcome way to reflect on his legacy, Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man is a fantastic watch and one I hope to watch again on June 28th when Mel turns 100.
Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man premieres in two parts on January 22nd and 23rd on HBO.
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Source:
JoBlo.com
