Search - Richard Pryor - Here and Now on DVD

Fantastic! Misunderstood! Bring your brain *and* your gut. T

Adam Bahner | 02/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Don't believe the negative reviews. I repeat: don't buy the lukewarm responses.



If you are looking for uninterrupted gut-busting laughter, and an audience laugh-track to cajole you on, you might be better served by Pryor's other movies or the works of artists like Sinbad, Chris Rock, Dave Chapelle, Bernie Mac, George Carlin and others who followed in his footsteps.



In "Here and Now," which Roger Ebert called a "90-minute documentary of one man talking," Richard Pryor evokes a cadence and relevance that none of the above could reinvent. He rises from gift to genius and from talent to savant. Make no mistake, this film contains some of Pryor's best moments.



Yet these moments are not done justice by the superficial label of "comedy." When Pryor ties his arm off and shoots up heroin, wincing with intensity as he stiffly pauses waiting for the hit to materialize, and then transitions into a liquid shiver of euphoria before his entire body falls limp-- it might disappoint those reviewers who were expecting to see Moe, Curly, and Larry.



The rest of us can be spellbound by the power and poetry of the man who is to comedy what Jack Kennedy is to politics; a rare achiever stifled too young and not paralleled since. Pryor is masterful, ad-libbing and sketching us on a roller coaster of laughter, tears, and pure marvel at the human condition.



To those who buy this to appreciate cheap thrills rather than being intellectually and politically prepared to be moved, I say this: "You're no Richard Pryor.""

Not his best, but has its moments

Andre M. | Mt. Pleasant, SC United States | 12/12/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I saw this at the old Jefferson Square Theater in Columbia, SC when I was in college in 1983. Pryor's last concert film, and not one of his better ones. Some interesting moments though. Mudbone appears in one of his rare filmed skits (compare this with the "Richard Pryor Show" DVD which repeats the classic Mudbone performance from "Is It Something I Said"). There is a really interesting moment when Pryor talks to a fiddler crab that crawls on his stool that is the kind of one-man theater that distiguished Pryor from his cursing copycats who had all of the profanity but none of the profundity of the master. He also does a frightfully accurate rendition of a junkie going on a nod. You can tell that he knows what he's talking about. In either case, this is for fans only. Rest in Peace brother Pryor.



"

Still on fire

L. Peters | NC | 08/12/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Richard Pryor Here and Now demonstrates that he's arguably the greatest stand-up comic of all time. It's true that this concert is by far weaker than Live in Concert and Sunset Strip. There are more slow spots here and the frequent interruptions and distractions by the obnoxious audience throw Pryor off of his rhythm. Part of what makes this fascinating to watch is how Pryor handles these people and saves the film. A lesser comedian would have been crushed. Richard Pryor, even when not in top form and with so much working against him still manages to be very funny. "This ain't Johnny Carson MFs!!!" Prudish people with an aversion for adult language and content, or uncomfortable with in-your-face discussions of race relations or the dark side of American history shouldn't watch this or any other Richard Pryor concert."