I enjoy Gilbert Gottfried as a comedian. He is absolutely fearless in what he says, laces his jokes with profanity and in his scratchy voice has a defiant delivery accented with a wry look of appreciation when he gets audience response. You can find him on the web dispensing his hilarious vulgarity in an assortment of roasts. Now you can see some of it in the film “Gilbert,” directed by Neil Berkeley.
But there is a special angle to the film. We see a lot of the off-stage Gilbert, including as a husband to his wife, Dara, and father of two children. That portrait shows him as loving and affectionate, totally different from his acerbic presence when he when take the stage.
In this age of political correctness I find it refreshing to see Gilbert lash out with his comedy, which I am sure, will offend various groups. His gay jokes, for instance, are merciless. He also gets in trouble, as with his post 9/11 joke about booking a flight that has to stop at the Empire State building. He lost a lucrative TV ad job as a result of a joke he told about the tsunami in Japan. Good for him, here also seen as a very likable guy. A Submarine Deluxe release. Reviewed November 3, 2017.