Don’t Miss “Cracking Up” (1994)

New Yorkers! Tomorrow night, Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn is rolling out a rare treat: a 30th anniversary screening of the downtown indie cult film Cracking Up (1994).

This is quite a different film from the eponymous one made by Jerry Lewis in 1983, although it would be way off the mark to say that it has nothing to do with Jerry. Star Matt Mitler does one of the best Jerry Lewis impressions I have ever seen, and the movie has a story arc Lewis would have relished. And also, like Lewis, Mitler is the complete auteur of this movie, not just star, but also writer, director, producer, and editor. It has the same “rise and fall of an obnoxious asshole” plot as many show biz classics, like Milton Berle’s Always Leave Them Laughing(1948) and the campy melodrama The Oscar (1966), not to mention Steve Martin’s The Jerk (1979), which parodies the subgenre. The added ingredient here is cocaine, ultimately the smoked variety that adds wordplay to the film’s title.

The film is impressively put together but where it really knocks your socks off is Mitler’s lead performance, which is dazzling enough to blind. The guy has the chutzpah to open his film reenacting the “I coulda had class” scene from On the Waterfront, nailing the Brando impersonation (with co-star Jason Brill handling Steiger). It knocks you off your pins, and while you’re still disoriented, the scene partners finish it off with a comic coup de grace that you will never in your life forget (involving Pee Wee Herman!). The movie is full of great bits like this, though ultimately it’s a drama, and Mitler carries off those elements, too. But as his character is a comedian, he weaves his impressions through all the scenes (Robert DeNiro is another well he keeps returning to). The crazy shifts of character remind me of what Olivier did in Sleuth, or Robin Williams’ early work on Mork and Mindy (that may sound like shade but I consider that show to have showcased Williams’ best work, not be sneezed at, speaking of cocaine).

What I find particularly astounding is that this is the same Matt Mitler who puts on Fools Mass, who studied with Grotowski, and whose life’s work weaves in influences ranging from R.D. Laing to Ram Dass (both of whom he also studied with). That he also has all this Borscht Belt in his repertoire is a revelation sufficient to blow one’s mind. As does the fact that though I had seen Mitler perform many times over the decades, I somehow didn’t know about this movie, even though it was co-produced by Surf Reality’s Robert Prichard (and ex-wifeJennifer), who’s in the film as well, as are several other friends and past collaborators of mine, including Chuck Montgomery and Glen Heroy. The cast also features several other notables, including Debra Wilson from MADtv, Camryn Manheim (her first movie), Todd Alcott (downtown playwright probably now best known for co-writing Antz), and playwright John Augustine, widower of the late Christopher Durang.

For many though, the real star of the film will be the documentary portrait of the downtown scene in the mid ’90s, in particular the streets of our beloved Lower East Side. Oh, how the heart leaps, soars, and sinks to see those long-gone sights. It’s like a window into a dusty cupboard of your own mind.

See it! It’s the Weird Wednesday feature tomorrow night at Alamo Drafthouse: info and tickets here. And if you’re an out-of-towner, or can’t make this screening, it’s also on Amazon Prime.

Oh, and one last thing, perhaps the only thing Nancy Reaganever said I could sign off on: don’t do crack!