This is a wonderful documentary on late comedian Bill Hicks, that relies heavily on family and friends to tell his story through their eyes.
For those unfamiliar with Hicks, to label him as just a comedian is a bit of a disservice. He was a man passionate about politics, and the state of the world, and the way human kind treated each other, and had no problem letting a set escalate into nothing more than him preaching. There were times he would mix a joke in, but there are other, more profound times when the barrage would be unrelenting. This made for a lot of uncomfortable situations where audiences weren't quite sure what to make of what they were witnessing or how they were supposed to react, which seemed to be exactly what Hicks wanted. He wanted to make you think.
Almost all the narration through the first 3/4ths of the movie is done via voice over. Stills and video are shown almost non stop and it really helps the narrative. There are very few instances where we watch a person talking. Featured prominently are Bills childhood and lifelong friends, his mother, father, brother and sister.
The pacing is top notch, as it moves swiftly, but never feels like anything is left out. We go from his childhood, to his start in comedy, his move to LA and subsequent move back to Houston. The film does not gloss over the drug use or Bills love of psychedelics or his alcoholism, which led to a very dark period in his career where sets would degrade into mad and bitter ramblings.
The final quarter of the film dealing with Bills death and legacy are very ethereal and delve into his love of psychedelics and his beliefs regarding them, as well as his views on humanity and what death means. It's hard sometimes to watch his parents talk about it, but it's what it is, it can't be made easy.
Anyhoo, removing Hicks, the documentary is done very well from a style standpoint. It never drags or lulls and hits all the points in his life and comedic evolution and never feels like it's moving too fast.
Buy Coke.
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