THE COMEDIANS: DEFENDING YOUR LIFE, SCENES FROM A MALL, THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
In the 50's, 60's, and early 70's, Woody Allen, Albert Brooks, and Lily Tomlin, respectively, emerged as three of the leading comic personalities around. Allen, who started out writing for Sid Caesar, became a popular stand-up comedian in the 60's, with his self-deprecating, neurotic world view. Tomlin burst onto the scene while appearing in "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," the hit variety show of the 60's and 70's, by doing such characters as Ernestine, the obnoxious telephone operator, and Edith Ann, the precocious child. While she was also a stand-up, her routines were normally done as these characters. Brooks also got his start on television, on a variety show run by Dean Martin, and his field was similar to the intellectual, neurotic Allen, but also a send-up of typical stand-up routines at the time (he'd be a ventriloquist who'd obviously move his mouth while the dummy was talking). All three eventually tried their hand at films. Allen was the most successful and prolific, turning out a film a year, usually writing, directing, and starring in them. Brooks also followed this path, but the films he directed and wrote were less frequent, and he also turned in performances in other movies like TAXI DRIVER. Tomlin received an Oscar nomination for her first movie, NASHVILLE, but for the most part, her film appearances have been infrequent, and she's stuck mostly to stage and television. In 1991, all three made films: Brooks wrote, directed, and starred in DEFENDING YOUR LIFE, Allen appeared in Paul Mazursky's SCENES FROM A MALL, and Tomlin's one-woman show THE SEARCH FOR SIGNS OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE was filmed by John Bailey.
Brooks' previous film, LOST IN AMERICA, about a yuppie couple who decides to give up their wealth and hit the road, was one of the sharpest satires of the 80's, so fans were waiting with baited breath for his next film. And since he gave a terrific, Oscar-nominated performance in James L. Brooks' BROADCAST NEWS, which allowed him to be Albert Brooks yet in the context of the character, they were sure it would be something good. That's why DEFENDING YOUR LIFE is so disappointing. It's not a terrible movie, mind you, but it could have been so much sharper.
Brooks plays Daniel Miller, a reasonably happy and well-off executive who is killed on his birthday in a car accident. Instead of going to heaven or hell, however, he's sent to Judgement City, which is sort of a way station. It certainly has some benefits (the food is delicious, and has no calories), but mainly, you're supposed to stay there while your life is judged. If your life is good enough, than you get to move on to heaven; if not, you go back to earth and try again. Daniel apparently has had past lives, but he thinks he's done a good enough job on this one. But he soon discovers the prosecutor, Lena Foster (Lee Grant) has a lot of examples from his life that indicate otherwise (he didn't get along well with his father), and he has to work with his attorney, Bob Diamond (Rip Torn), to convince the judges otherwise.
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