SXSW: Geekscape reviews American: The Bill Hicks Story
Bill Hicks has been called the single greatest comedian America has ever produced. He has had a profound cultural and personal impact, yet has never truly gotten the mainstream recognition he deserved. Given his abrasive and philosophical take on comedy, this is somewhat understandable but that doesn’t it any less of a tragedy. I didn’t find out about Bill until nearly a decade after he died in relative obscurity in 1994. He is a comedian that you found out about through friends, not through television, and it felt something like a secret. This mysterious force that showed up to change your life.
American: The Bill Hicks Story seeks to change all of this. The film hopes to give Hicks the exposure he should have gotten during his time on Earth. American tells the true story of Bill’s life, not just focusing on his public persona as Comedy’s Johnny Cash, the black clad bad ass, but Bill as a clean cut kid, as an alcoholic, as a family man, as a musician, as a friend, as an activist, and as a frail human being who succumbed to cancer at the height of his comedic talent. Bill’s story is a true tragedy. He was someone who did everything he could to understand himself and the world around him and he had to gift to articulate that to others so that their own lives made more sense. He struggled to connect to the American public but ended up performing small comedy clubs until his death, despite finding massive success overseas. His material was as sharp and as fearless as it had ever been at the time of his death, and it’s always painful to see someones talent snuffed out when they are in their prime.
It’s always tough for filmmakers to make an entertaining documentary about a subject where there isn’t much archival footage (apart from his filmed performances). There is a tendency to rely on talking heads which tend to make a documentary feel like a dull lecture as opposed to a riveting piece of cinema. Directors Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas sidestep this problem with an ingenious decision to take the hundreds of photos of Bill and his friends from his formative years and animate them. The result is actually a crude animated feature with the voices provided by friends and relatives of Bill. This is not a boring or somber talking heads doc. It is hilarious and entertaining. It certainly helps that Bill’s friends were comedians.
There are a few moments when the film slips into somewhat cheesy and new age-y territory. Bill’s drug experimentation is well documented and was an essential part of who he was, but it could have been explored in a slightly less “far out, man” manner.
This animated style is interspersed with actual footage of Bill on stage and it is fascinating to watch his material grow and evolve along with himself. His start as a Woody Allen clone and clean cut comedian to his drunken, screaming days and then finally to the enlightened and crassly insightful era that made him a legend is an engrossing tale of rise, fall, and redemption.
As a huge Bill Hicks fan, I am certainly biased but I truly believe that this is a documentary that everyone could enjoy and everyone should see. If only to finally educate yourself on one of our country’s greatest hidden treasures.
