bettycjung
3/15/18. Wow, what a biopic! Never heard of him but now that I have watched this I will never forget him. A caustic, sarcastic comedian who had a good reason for being that way - he was sexually abused when he was a small child. Eventually he took all that energy and channeled it into activism against Internet child porn. More than anything he raised awareness of how prevalent child molestation is, and it's scary. Parents, protect your children!
Anthony Iessi
Call Me Lucky is a shocking, brilliant new documentary. It's about a man, few have known, but many really should discover. He's an American treasure, despite hating his own country so very much. Barry Crimmins is the subject of the piece. He's said to be "a cross between Noam Chomsky and Bluto". He is a giant fireball of communist rage. No matter how much you think you hate the United States, and the Catholic Church, trust me, you don't hate it as much as Barry does. He's seething anger personified, but it didn't just come out of a vacuum. As a young child, he was subject to a series of unspeakable, disgusting sexual assaults. How much of it that he discloses will make your jaw drop. It is devastating. Once you take it all into account, you suddenly understand his resentment for his surroundings. As a man, and in-between his stand- up gigs, he dedicates his free time in a heroic journey to save children who have been at the hands of sexual abuse. Through this journey, he exposes the darkest underbelly of the pedophilia ring, during the dawn of AOL. I'm spilling way too much about this documentary, but it's brilliant, and I have to just spill all of my thoughts here. It's Bobcat Goldthwait's masterpiece, and what should be, and won't be, an Oscar contender. It's too cool for the establishment to like. If the day comes and the Oscars don't nominate "Call Me Lucky", I hope to see Crimmins rail against the "capitalist, old, white, wrinkly, pig f******" that screwed him over again
sorry to paraphrase.
wobbly33
Barry Crimmins is not a well-known comedian outside of Boston and New York. But he is a legend among comics, including many legendary comics. His highly intelligent and hard-charging style, lashing out at greedy and inhumane politics, puts him in the ranks of Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, and Bill Hicks. He also helped mentor a roster of comics like Denis Leary, Stephen Wright, Tom Kenny, Paula Poundstone, and Lenny Clarke. He also mentored Bobcat Goldthwait, who directs this simple yet emotionally packed biography that explains not only who Crimmins is, but how he came to be. This is not a "how did he get to be so funny?" or "the greatest (blank) you've never heard of" fluff piece. This is a very gritty, sometimes very dark look at the horrors Crimmins endured as a child, and how he turned his suffering into a lifelong mission to help those victimized by man's inhumanity to man. His compassion permeates his actions, even as he takes the microphone at a Senate hearing on child pornography and uses it to (figuratively) beat a suit from AOL into submission. The result is an emotional wringer that will take you from belly laughs to gut-punched. See this film.
sdwalker-76758
I felt as if I held my breath the entire length of the movie. Great historical footage, interviews and first person stories of the day. The life of a man who had to overcome trauma and pain. A man whose talents seemed wrong place, wrong time but who never compromised his principles. Touching, poignant and all of it true. The story follows Barry's career through the comedy scene of the 80's, up and down the east coast. His comedy reaches a deep lace inside, things that everyone can relate to from that era. His childhood was stolen from him. He struggled for decades. Came to terms and was able to move on. I loved this movie. It is astounding that his core group of friends were able to share stories from 40 years ago. Barry was there for up and coming young comics and many got their start in the business from him. Many familiar names in this story. I will see it again with friends.
AD
