Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic

The result is a compelling portrait of a man who was, in every sense, incendiary.

[An] enlightening biographical documentary.

A solid, nonjudgmental documentary on a man so tortured he almost killed himself, yet gifted with remarkable insight into human behavior, his and ours.

An informative and haunting new Showtime documentary about the legendary comedian-actor-writer

In general, the dialogue she [director Marina Zenovich] creates between her interviewees and the comedian’s own words and routines, seen in extended excerpts, makes for a highly fascinating exchange that shortchanges no one, least of all the outspoken Pryor himself.

The film’s inevitable compressions, made worse by the amount of empty, self-congratulatory celebrity blathering, mean that every Pryor fan will have omissions to complain about. But the best strategy is probably to sit back and enjoy what’s there.

None of which is new, all of which is interesting. But looking at any one aspect of his life--his marriages, a single concert, his childhood, one incident--in depth might have provided more insight than this typical overview.