If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Film Perfection

Excellent adaptation.

Absolutely brilliant

I just happened to come across this one-man-show on HBO, and I was hit in the face with true talent for the performing arts. John Leguizamo provided me with a fresh of breath air from today's Lindsey Lohans and the uncreative, less-than-quality shows and movies in cinema (and staged shows for that matter). He let me know that there is more to show business for an actor than choosing the right parts and getting lucky with a hit movie (granted, that may be part of it). For the main part, though, it is the skills needed to entertain, acquired through practice and hard work. I don't think I would be able to watch another standup for the length of this show. This show should stand as the epitome of great, contemporary Broadway.

This is a concert film done in a linear fashion, and John talks about this upbringing and his journey to be accepted by his father. His family members come alive in his story telling, and I am amazed at how clear his ideas are. This film kicks the c**p out of his first film Mambo Mouth. See it see it see it. Did I say see it?

If you've ever seen John Leguizamo in "Freak", than you know what it is to watch a man give of his soul for two hours. Creating a unique hybrid of every kind of one-man show performance ever, Leguizamo tells us the abridged story of his life, and goes out of his way (with a riveting, touching, hilarious performance) to cushion the many blows he has to reveal for an audience so unsuspecting of a damaged genius. Directed for television by Spike Lee, John's *stage* performance was nominated for a Tony in 1998 for Best Actor In A Play (he lost to Anthony LaPaglia). His past show, "Spic-O-Rama", showed a diversity to play the eccentric characters of his life. But "Freak" proves something much greater: on such a fluid, risky platform as a one-man show with nearly no blackouts, Leguizamo can express emotions that are not yet eccentric or dull, but real. To see him give child abuse a whimsical perspective leaves a mark on you. This is what he will be remembered for.*****

This is the kind of humor John Leguizamo is really good at. He is a very talented comedian, and if his life was actually like this growing up then I have a whole new respect for him, even after the Pest. If he could have had this kind of humor in the Pest it would have been a great movie.