The King of Comedy

1982 Directed by Martin Scorsese

It's No Laughing Matter.

Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin attempts to achieve success in show business by stalking his idol, a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy.

Robert De Niro Jerry Lewis Sandra Bernhard Diahnne Abbott Shelley Hack Frederick de Cordova Kim Chan Ed Herlihy Lou Brown Margo Winkler Ralph Monaco Catherine Scorsese Cathy Scorsese Loretta Tupper Peter Potulski Vinnie Gonzales Whitey Ryan Doc Lawless Marta Heflin Chuck Low Katherine Wallach Charles Kaleina Richard Baratz Liza Minnelli Leslie Levinson Alan Potashnick Michael Kolba Robert Colston Ramon Rodriguez Show All…

Alternative Titles

Re per una notte, O Rei da Comédia, Král komedie, 코미디의 왕, キング・オブ・コメディ, 喜劇之王, Король комедии, Король комедії, Ο Βασιλιάς της Κωμωδίας, El rey de la comedia

comedy crime drama

109 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Sean Baker 14

I realized this time around that there isn't a wasted scene in this film.
Review by Karsten Runquist ★★★★★ 43

This is a perfect movie!
Review by katie ★★★★½ 12

todd phillips is rupert pupkin
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 9

Both deliciously funny and scary as hell; Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy is a work of ingenious, prophetic wisdom and focus. Both grounded and elevated by one of Robert De Niro's finest performances, the film slivers and slides through different forms of deconstruction and satire until the final irony hits like a ton of bricks.
Martin Scorsese's direction is magnificent here. While not as classical as Raging Bull or as lush as Taxi Driver, It feels just as pure, mainly when the camera decides to watch Rupert Pupkin in all his mesmerizing and terrifying glory. Both hilarious and creepy, De Niro embodies this complex character with glorious quirkiness and a sense of childish playfulness. In particular, the scenes involving…
Review by maria ★★★★½ 7

new joker movie lookin' good
Review by Matt Singer ★★★★½ 3

"Better to be king for a night, than schmuck for a lifetime."
Review by Maxx ★★★★ 3

"The King of Comedy" is an accurate description of how i feel whenever i post a Letterboxd review that gets more than 20 likes
Review by Mike Ginn ★★★★★ 5

I read the interview for this in ‘Scorsese on Scorsese’ and he claimed that to get in character Robert DeNiro started stalking and harassing his own stalkers. Showing up to their apartments, calling them in the middle of the night, etc. Thought it was worth posting here.
Review by ethan 10

okay i know people said the joker took “influence” from king of comedy but nobody told me phillips practically stole the entire film frame by frame and got away with it
Review by davidehrlich ★★★½ 2

but seriously, how long has Jerry Langford been tied up in Jay Leno's basement? ...someone really ought to go check on him.
Review by Keith Phipps ★★★★★ 2

Kind of thought of this as second-tier Scorsese—second tier being a still pretty high perch—until this recent rewatch. When I got to the monologue I felt like I was watching pretty much a perfect movie.
Review by josh lewis ★★★★★ 2

"i know, jerry, that you are as human as the rest of us, if not more so."

Recent reviews

Review by Nicolas Bittencourt ★★★★

Joker's better version
Review by Casey Boyden ★★★★

I think it's time to lower my rating of Joker again.
Review by PedroRm1 ★★★★

Filme simples mas bom num geral
Me faz admirar ainda mais o De Niro como ator, cara é bom
Review by amar_sall ★★★★★

Can you imagine if this got remade lol
Review by aneshka ★★★★

rupert pupkin you crazy son of a bitch you did it
Review by ollieparker ★★★★★

How does Scorsese do it, I mean honestly how, I’ll never know how he manages to make such phenomenal films, it was such a great experience to watch this and I would recommend this 100 times over
Review by Alex

I’m a serious Rupert Pupkin for Scorsese and De Niro.
(Mum & Dad told me to show them a film I think they’d like - of course this went down a treat)
Review by Hochlywood ★★★★½

Scorsese is far too good at writing characters who are complete incels. Getting a little suspicious of you Marty. Getting a little concerned. A little peturbed.
Additionally this makes Joker (2019), a film which doesn't need any help being made shit, seem even worse, a pathetic and pale imitation. No one does it like Marty does, even if he probably is a complete incel.
Review by bigphyzz ★★★★

King shit
Review by Francesco Chello ★★★★½

Complementare a Taxi Driver, ne riprende diversi temi ricontestualizzandoli in un àmbito differente, quello dello showbiz così vicino a Scorsese (e De Niro che aveva insistito nel proporre lo script all’amico regista). Una riflessione sul mondo dello spettacolo, sulle sue estremizzazioni, la smania dell’apparire, il fanatismo che supera il confine dello stalking. Un racconto di disagio, emarginazione, follia, di chi crea una bolla intorno a sé perdendo il contatto con la realtà. Finta commedia dal sapore amaro, struttura generale esplicitata anche da un metaforico monologo finale (comico per tempi e battute, malinconico se si pensa alla sua natura biografica). Per arrivare ad un epilogo paradossale ma cinicamente verosimile nel suo essere specchio dei tempi (ancora dannatamente attuale), con la notorietà…
Review by barry01

Todd Philips completely copied this.
Review by gustavlie ★★★★½ 3

og jeg som trodde at humor var top-number-one...