Buy Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work on DVD

Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work

DVD More Info Region Code: 1 UPC: 030306956091 Catalog #: DV3139722 Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0, English SDH subtitles, Spanish subtitles	Usually ships in 5-10 days	$24.99 (10% off) List Price: ~~$27.99~~
Blu-ray More Info Region Code: 1 UPC: 030306186795 ISBN: 0788610813 Catalog #: DB3139723 Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0, English SDH subtitles, Spanish subtitles	Usually ships in 5-10 days	$31.49 (10% off) List Price: ~~$34.99~~

When new special editions or price reductions are announced.

Synopsis

One of the most critically and commercially successful word of mouth documentary hits in years, Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work played and played for months in major cities around the country as audiences discovered the film and urged their friends to go see it.

Directors Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg (The End Of America) follow a year in the life of the trailblazing comic, covering Joan Rivers's entire career (from that early break on Carson to heartbreak over the suicide of her husband and manager to Celebrity Apprentice) and her relentless desire to keep working (and working) with humor, empathy and of course more humor. Wickedly funny and surprisingly moving, it returns Rivers to the spotlight she so richly deserves and cements her reputation as one of stand–up's towering figures.

Review

The gripping documentary A Piece of Work provides an unfiltered look at a year in the life of Joan Rivers.

Examining not only her origins, status as a gay icon, and public and personal history, the film puts a spotlight on her strong insecurities, her various surgeries and obsessive compulsive use of make-up, her blunt, but loving relationship with her even more profoundly insecure daughter Melissa Rivers, her competitive relationships with younger comedians like frenemy protégé Kathy Griffin, her loyalty to her shockingly unreliable gay manager, and, of course, her relentless ambition to stay atop the showbiz ladder.

The film follows her performing at various casinos, appearing on "Celebrity Apprentice," taking an offer to be a spokeswoman for a penis enlargement pill, writing and performing an autobiographical one-woman show and, of course, dishing the inside-Hollywood dirt on whomever she feels deserves it. Joan lays everything out on the table for filmmakers Anne Sundberg and Ricki Stern - offering up a thrillingly raw, wickedly funny and surprisingly profound study of a comedy legend's survival in an industry that worships newer and younger talent.

-- Robert O'Neill

Product Format Information

DVD : $24.99

Availability: Usually ships in
5-10 days
Region Code: 1
UPC: 030306956091
Catalog #: DV3139722

Studio : MPI, IFC Films

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 , English Dolby Digital 2.0 , English SDH Subtitles , Spanish Subtitles
Aspect Ratio: 1.78, Widescreen
Extras: 1 Trailer, 9 Deleted Scenes
Features:
Chapter selection
Featurette: Sundance Film Festival Q&A
Audio commentary: Anne Sundberg, Joan Rivers and Ricki Stern

---------------------------------------------------

Blu-ray : $31.49

Availability: Usually ships in
5-10 days
Region Code: 1
UPC: 030306186795
ISBN: 0788610813
Catalog #: DB3139723

Studio : MPI, IFC Films

Languages: English Dolby Digital 5.1 , English Dolby Digital 2.0 , English SDH Subtitles , Spanish Subtitles
Aspect Ratio: 1.78, Widescreen
Extras: 1 Trailer, 9 Deleted Scenes
Features:
Chapter selection
Audio commentary: Anne Sundberg, Joan Rivers and Ricki Stern
Featurette: Sundance Film Festival Q&A

Keywords

Biographical/Autobiographical, Comedy, Documentary/Documentaries, Hollywood/Celebrity, Marriage

Genres

Documentary

Customer Reviews

Can We Talk?

Amos Lassen wrote on 09/30/2010:

“Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work”
Can We Talk?
Amos Lassen
Like the name of the film, Joan Rivers is a piece of work. We see her as that in this film that she gave filmmakers permission to film her for a year—the year that she turned 75. She comes across as a very honest and truthful person and this documentary is as honest as she is. The film looks at Rivers as a stand up comedienne who constantly works and keeps herself at the top of the game. At three-fourths of a century old, Rivers does not miss a beat—her jokes have no mercy and she delivers them as only she can. The woman is energy personified.
Yes she talks about her cosmetic surgery and her husband Edgar who committed suicide. She speaks about Melissa her daughter and the rift between her and Johnny Carson and being blackballed by NBC.
She can make you laugh and make you cringe and she is amazing. Today Rivers is 77 and she had begun to be last popular after her husband’s death but she has kept at it. She has few boundaries and she is one of a kind.
For 14 months filmmaker Stern and Sundberg stayed with Rivers so they can give us this film. They don’t try to make her look good and they do not ask us to love her. We know she can be offensive but she can also be good. Even with the face she puts on, Joan Rivers comes across as a clever woman and we see that when she is performing, she is magic.