mart-burton Definitely worth watching if you like Joan Rivers. I think that Joan Rivers is a great comedienne for today. Joan has always pushed the envelope throughout her life. Her humor is as risqué as ever today – as you have probably seen on Fashion Police. The thing about Joan is that she has courage. She is at the edge of what is acceptable in the same way as Chris Rock used to push the edge of comedy. But Joan doesn't hold back for anyone. But Joan has a soft side. This movie takes you behind the stage performance to the real Joan. She looks after her staff who are loyal to her. She once said "I just want to be loved". She is astute and acerbic. She has no barriers, especially on herself. She knows that she sends herself up worse than anyone else. And ladies and gentlemen, that is Joan. She is sensitive. She is a lovely person. She works hard. And she will dish is out even worse to herself than she will to anyone else.

Herag Halli This is an amazing woman with an even amazing career. The film is well done with incredible candor and introspection that only a comedian would share. Nothing is off limits-the conference calls with her manager (Jimmy Sammeth who seems to have a love and hate relation with her) and personal assistant on the speaker phone in disparate attempt to land a gig to support her "Industry" and her opulent life style. I don't know of any comedienne ever lives or lived like her. The apartment is ritzy with gilt galore and classly decorated and she is the queen who has to do her raunchy routine to pay for the luxury. I have seen her live..she really does not have new or good material but people see her at least once, for the pure shock value. She is not afraid to show very unflattering scenes(even scary!) where she appears without makeup for a woman who thrives on vanity and plastic surgery. It becomes quite evident by the end of the film that she really does not have any close friends or family. Her daughter Melissa (not a very likable personality herself!) has no real love for her and her manager Jimmy Sammeth, who ends up quitting (it is ironic that the only tears she ever sheds in front of the camera is for him, and not for her husband who committed suicide in a philadelphia hotel.) Comedians become subtle and subdued as they get older but Joan, is the reverse. She is more daring and raunchy than ever. There were two other comedians, who maintained an extensive joke files like Joan..Bob hope and Milton Berle and they performed to their 90's. She says the actors fade out when they get to be fifty but comedians never fade..once a comedian always a comedian. The best scene in the movie is when she is sitting in the limo making faces to a voice over when she muses to a failed Play. The only thing I am not sure, is the therapy sessions with her daughter Melissa, was real or taken from a movie. I really enjoyed the movie. The two women producers have a great potential. They should do the same with Jerry Seinfeld!

ldavis-2 "A Piece of Work" begins with Joan Rivers looking like a refugee from "Night of the Living Dead" before tons of make-up transform her into something resembling a human being. This peek behind the pose may seem brave to some. To me, it confirmed that Rivers has turned herself into Leona Helmsley! A few more gos under the knife, she'll turn herself into Michael Jackson!"A Piece of Work" actually has a lot to say about the nature of celebrity. Rivers has money and fame, but what she really wants is status, which is why she attends a Kennedy Center tribute to George Carlin, although, as she points out, the tribute represents everything Carlin was against, namely rich Republicans (yuk, yuk). That Carlin made millions off of his feigned disdain for the establishment is lost on Rivers. That you have to earn respect in order to get respect is lost on her, too.Kathy Griffin prattles about how Rivers paved the way for her, but that's the extent of the props, which is telling yet not surprising. Like Helmsley, Rivers is an utterly unlikeable creature who makes Snooki look dignified. The tirade during one of her routines about her daughter nixing an offer to pose for Playboy made me want to wash my ears out with soap! Little wonder her manager bails on her every chance he gets, her staffers put up with her only because she pays them, and her daughter (a wanna-be A-lister herself) can't stand being in the same room with her for longer than five minutes. Only once, when she and her grandson (whom she seems to adore) visit an ailing photographer does Rivers seem to get that the world does not revolve around her. But maybe, that was just part of her act.

dayXexists Very depressing look into the life and career of 75+ year old Joan Rivers who is so clearly starving for attention and acceptance but more often just gets crapped on by the industry, her fans, the press and public. It's pretty sad to see what the business will do to someone and how even nearing 80 years old she is still willing to take any booking, even a roast of herself where people call her a the c word and say things about her vagina, just so she can stay relevant. It was very sad when she got bad reviews for her play because you can tell it hurts her so much that people generally do not respect her or take her seriously. I would recommend it because it is an interesting look at the business and shows how addicting it really is for the people that it chews up and spits back out.