Movies

April, 1983

Playing The King of Comedy (Fox), Robert De Niro seems almost as crazy as he was in Taxi Driver, also directed by Martin Scorsese. Both virtuoso performances, too, though The King strikes me as flimsy and specious. Paul Zimmerman's screenplay supposes that a no-talent creep with delusions of grandeur--the sort of nerd who hangs around stage doors to shake hands with the high and mighty--kidnaps a famous talk-show host and holds him hostage in exchange for prime time to perform his crude, unfunny...