Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Genre: Documentary
Director: Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg
Stars: Joan Rivers
**1/2
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work opens with the 76-year-old Queen of Comedy having her makeup applied.
Glamorous it’s not, and the scene almost takes your breath away. Given her reputation as a devotee of plastic surgery, there’s an assumption that Rivers is not willing to reveal her real face to anyone, much less the lens of a documentary camera.
Wrong. Nothing is held back or deemed too sacred to mock. Rivers gave filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg almost complete access to her whirlwind life, onstage and off. The result is an extremely candid portrayal that seems to have been a form of catharsis for her. The face may be fake, but the heart certainly isn’t.
