Director Michael Addis joins forces with comedian
Jamie Kennedy to examine why the critical
community, or occasional bitter critical hack, savages
art with impunity in the documentary film HECKLER.
The film questions the validity and substance
of comedic hecklers who seemingly spread to the
critical community at large. The story is a hilarious
dissection of the relationship between criticism and
society, expressed by a host of recognizable comedians,
including Louie Anderson and Henry Rollins.
Artists and critics have feuded with each other for
ages, and this film does not attempt to portray Jamie
Kennedy against his 'hecklers' head-on, but rather
explores the idea of the travails of a comedian,
as an artist. "It was never intended as a crusade
[against them]," Addis says. "We both came up with
the idea of the film together, as we wanted to do a
stand-up comedy film, but wanted to tell some interesting
truths about the life of a comedian. Eventually,
we came up with the idea of comparing how
a comic deals with hecklers with how comics deal
with heckling they can't respond to."
The film is more than an expose of the strained
relationship between artist and critic. It questions the
very fabric of what is a critic, as some bloggers are
merely an extension of drunken hecklers at comedy
clubs. Some of these supposed critics savage artists
without respect to their art with impunity and personal
character defamation. The film argues that it is
essential to be thoughtful and sensitive when surveying
art, even if it's merely entertainment.
"It's perfectly fine to NOT connect to a film or work
of art, and say so in print," Addis continues. "And
you may feel that a film just genuinely doesn't work
as a piece of art or entertainment. But before you rip
into a person or film, you should just consider your
motivation." Such is HECKLER, a film that seeks
to temper the critics' occasional lapse into cruel
personal attacks out of jealousy and enmity. But, as
director Joel Schumacher states in the film, "nobody
ever grows up to be a critic."
Director Michael Addis joins forces with comedian
Jamie Kennedy to examine why the critical
community, or occasional bitter critical hack, savages
art with impunity in the documentary film HECKLER.
The film questions the validity and substance
of comedic hecklers who seemingly spread to the
critical community at large. The story is a hilarious
dissection of the relationship between criticism and
society, expressed by a host of recognizable comedians,
including Louie Anderson and Henry Rollins.
