Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010)

Again, expected to love it. Loved it. I had heard clips on NPR and seen some video, and Jack & I enjoyed every minute of this documentary on the hard-working, precedent-setting, potty-mouthed, feminist septuagenarian. Rivers, who, apparently, has never turned down a job, agreed to let filmmakers Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg follow her (and occasionally daughter Melissa) around for a year, beginning with Joan's 75th birthday (she's now 77). This is not for everyone: Rivers' humor is crude and her language is profane. She annoys some people no end, which has biased their reviews of the movie. We think she's brave, smart (Phi Beta Kappa from Barnard College), and f^@%ing funny, and so do the reviewers in rottentomatoes, which gives the movie a 91% average. You will learn that Joan's skin (insert plastic surgery joke here) is thinner than you might expect: she's pretty insecure for a broad who will skewer anyone and anything. And that she really does have a heart of gold. I don't need to say much more. If you like Joan Rivers, you will love this movie. Go see it.