Mr. Warmth: DMFR

With so many great movie review scribes out there, I am not going to try to string together salient paragraphs as I review Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project. I present you 23 easy to digest bullet points for the holidays:

• This will probably be the only time that Dave Attell, Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro's names scroll up the flat screen together at the end of a movie. No offense Dave.

• Interesting to hear about Rickles close friendship with Bob Newhart over the years, including home movies from all over the world. Checkout Newhart's shades when he is at the Great Wall. One of the most famous comedians in the world strutting on the Great Wall of China. Nevermind Ocean's 11, now that's vintage cool.

• Funny to hear Newhart and Regis Philbin wax nostagiclally for when "the boys" ran Las Vegas. Then Newhart goes on to describe how it became "more corporate" when ""the Jews" came in. There were "less comps". And I'm guessing the comedians weren't able to be paid under the table anymore. One can only imagine what type of special teratment the mobsters lavished on the likes of Rickles and Newhart.


• To me, the only really bad piece of editing in the lush looking documentary is letting Robin Williams do a hackey riff on Rickles being in China. It goes on for 2 minutes and is devoid of a laugh. Williams seems older and more hackey than 81 year old Rickles.

• Funny to hear Sidney Poitier try to find words to describe Rickles euphemistically.

• His current Vegas act is very funny and sort of sad at the same time. Like seeing Sinatra in his later years. The barbs are still funny, but I don' think he will be playing dates when he is 99 like George Burns.

• Rickles act includes a song and dance tribute to James Cagney where he sings "Yankee Doodle Dandy" and valiently kicks his legs around. Newhart tell him "people make travel arrangements" during that portion of the show.

• The Tonight Show clip where he breaks Johnny's cigarette box and Johnny ambushes him on the set of his NBC sit-com is classic and I remember it from my youth. Johnny walking down the hall is a seminal moment in tv history when the 4th wall was broken forever. This paved the way for all of Letterman, Conan and Kimmel's man on the steet bits.

• Leno comes off as humorless and as a corporate talking head. Can't wait for Conan to take over. Then Leno can become the aging Vegas machine. I believe Rickles and Newhart were Leno's 2 guests on his first episode back after Carson passed.

• An alliterative treat: Rickles Roasting Reagan


• Jimmy Kimmel, a Las Vegas native, talks well of Mr. Rickles. As does his girlfriend Sarah Silverman: "Everybody wants to be shit on by Don Rickles"

• If they had cut out that horrible Robin Williams riff they could have squeezed in an interview with the baby gorilla himself, Arthur Lange.

• Check out Larry King in a bright pink sweater holding court at the Jewish LA Deli. Only Larry, Kanye West or Andre 300 could pull off that look.





• The only thing, to me that was mildly shocking was Rickles black voice impersonation during one of Dean Martin's roasts. Even with the no-holds-barred roasts these days on Comedy Central and Stern: there was something about it that doesn't seem like it would be kosher these days. Unless Gilbert Gotfried was doing it. Another blogger also points out that there was a bried shot of a still with Rickles with a noose around his neck surrounded by 4 men in white hoods. They don't really touch on any of the true racism in show business or Vegas in the 60's.


• I find it interesting to see all the show biz "vintage players" who have worked for Rickles for 20 years and the utter quiet of the show backstage before it begins. The somber shots of Rickles assistant helping straighten his bow tie as his tour manager/announcer nervously looks out on the crowd as the blue of the Vegas hi tech lights wash over everybody - smoothing out the wrinkles and adding to the world of illusion.

• There is something strangely mesmerizing about Rickles impersonation of his wife when he sticks his tongue out.

• Great choice for a final shot where Rickles walks off stage to his manager's waiting towel and then turns and walks back towards the crowd as the film freezes. But then as the credits roll people are walking over his Hollywood start as if he were dead already.

• John Stamos: fan of The Beach Boys and Don Rickles.

• The cinematography is superb. And in lieu of trite Ken Burns style effects on old photos - Landis has a guy do these 3d panning type effects which are pretty slick and similar to the effects in the documentary The Kid Stays in the Picture.

• Rickles bit about the ship hitting the dock over and over again. I tell you.

• Documentary was devoid of helicopters.

• Why was that Arizona atheltic coach in at the end? It looked like it was going to lead up to him meeting Rickles but there was no payoff. He just says that the two people he wanted to meet in his life were The Pope and Don Rickles. Maybe this was Landis' way of saying that, despit all the racial barbs, Rickles has a heart of gold. Not sure, but I don't think that part worked. Maybe the guy won a charity auction to be in the movie.

• Tales of Rickle working in strip clubs back in the day were funny. Replete with black and white moving animations.

Anyway - for fans of comedy or show biz history this documentary is worth a look. It is on HBO on Demand. Also there you will find the last 4 episodes of Six Feet Under. It is a little creepy to see Michael C. Hall with the prosthetic make-up on during the final epilogue montage, and even more dissettling to see Claire's ultimately greyed out cataracts. But it works, and the shots are brief enough that they don't make you think of Bette Middler and James Caan (who also turns up in Mr. Warmth) in the end of For the Boys