“STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces” premieres globally on Apple TV+ This Friday 3/29. Starring Steve Martin, Finn Wittrock, Martin Short, Tina Fey, Jerry Seinfeld, Eric Idle, Diane Keaton and Selena Gomez, and directed by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville. It is an extraordinary work, fascinating and moving. With a half century on the world stage as a comedian, actor, writer and musician, Steve Martin had never consented to a documentary about his life — until he decided that Academy Award-winning documentarian, Morgan Neville, was the one to do this. His choice was validated with this wonderful film.
The film looks at Martin’s extraordinary story from two distinct points of view, with companion documentaries that feature never-before-seen footage and raw insights into Martin’s personal and professional trials and triumphs. “Then” chronicles Martin’s early struggles and meteoric rise to revolutionize stand-up before walking away at 35. “Now” focuses on the present day, with Martin in the golden years of his career, retracing the transformation that led to happiness in his art and personal life.
Full confession, I am fascinated by Steve Martin and this film revealed so much about him. He really is amazingly talented and driven. Neville’s words say so much. “What I love about Steve’s journey is that he spent 15 years not succeeding, but honing his voice to the point where the culture finally caught up to it,”.
The filmmaker continues, “I think of Steve as a puzzle solver in so many ways. He’s always doing puzzles and games, but if you think of what he’s been attracted to in his life — stand-up comedy, banjo, music —that stuff took thousands of hours to master and Steve likes to be keeping working at something to get better at it because it keeps him constantly challenged. The problem solving—the process— is the interesting part for him, not the result.”
There is so much joy to enjoy in these films, especially when one makes a choice between watching the world fall apart and seeing someone gradually evolve as a brilliant individual who offers so much to the world.
While “Then” is more scattered and shows the young Steve Martin trying to find himself, it is essential to understand the way he put the pieces of his life together to reveal “Now”, which is much more pleasant and fulfilling.
The film reveals Martin’s struggle with his relationship with his father and points our that his job became to obtain his father’s approval- I was fascinated by his perceptive introspective notes that were shown, as Martin attempts to engage and maintain an audience. As Then ends Martin has set records with audience numbers but walks away from “Stand-up” comedy. Now shows what happened when he had solved many personal and professional problems. I remember seeing his play “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago and being blown away. And books followed and they were great, and movies. Seeing the scripts fir the vast numbers of films he has made was shocking in a good way.
And Martin’s thoughts on the final films are quintessentially Steve: “I’m glad they chose me to be the subject of a biography about me.”
When this becomes available on TV, on March 29th, do yourself a favor and watch it-in two pieces.
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Images are courtesy of Apple Original Films.
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