Comedian
Bruce Madsen is sick of going out on the road. The only consolation is he lives
in Los Angeles. He is pretty sick of it too, but he stays because that is where
his daughter and the business are. He grinds away hoping his agent will find a
way to get him back on television, enduring the pettiest annoyances the club
circuit has to offer in Adam Carolla & Kevin Hench’s Road Hard (trailer
here),
which opens this Friday in New York.
Madsen
was once the co-host of the crude but popular Bro Show. His former partner is now the star of his own late night network
talk show. Yes, there do seem to be some parallels between Carolla’s life and
his on-screen character. Madsen is also divorced, living in the converted
garage of his former McMansion, so he can be close to his adopted daughter,
Tina—that is when he happens to be in town. Since Madsen was once on
television, he can still draw relatively well at middling comedy clubs, but it
is getting to be a drag.
Madsen
perks up a little when he meets Sarah at a typically de-moralizing gig. Of
course, she happened to be there through a strange set of circumstances. She
certainly isn’t a fan, but they will somehow meet again. Will Madsen finally
get off the show business treadmill or will his persistence finally be
rewarded? Road Hard will answer those
questions satisfyingly, but first Madsen’s ego will have to take a few beatings.
Road Hard is sort of like Scared Straight for anyone considering a
career as a comedian, but it is consistently humorous, nonetheless. Clearly,
Carolla can still do old school stand-up, because his bits are peppered
throughout the film. He is also quite funny kvetching with his cronies Phil
Rosenthal (essentially playing himself) and David Alan Grier (as Michael
Gerard, a comic on an unlikely upswing). Yes, you read that here first—the words
“David Alan Grier” and “funny” used in the same sentence. Howie Mandel also
turns up for an unusually edgy and self-deprecating cameo, again as himself,
but Larry Miller disappointingly resorts to a lot of shtick as Madsen’s sleazy
agent (is there any other kind?), “Baby Doll” Weissman.
Yet,
one of the nicest surprises is the easy-going chemistry between Carolla and
Cynthy Wu and his former Loveline colleague,
Diane Farr, as Tina and Sarah, respectively. These feel like believably
imperfect but workable relationships. In fact, there are some moments down the
stretch that are quite sweet, despite all the preceding masturbation jokes.
