
            Set in New York City, Robert De Niro plays the simplistic, driven, and uncool Rupert Pupkin. Jerry Lewis plays a quiet, tired Johnny Carson-like cardboard cut-out of himself Jerry Langford.From the moment we see Rupert, he's shoving himself through a large crowd of autograph seeking fans outside a TV studio, separating himself from the group to show that he's after something different. But all this breaks down the moment Jerry Langford exits the studio. The crowd turns crazed and climbs over each other to get close to Jerry. Rupert sees the possibility of a break and goes for it. Rupert pushes back the mob and tries to help Jerry get inside his waiting limousine. But waiting inside for him is the obsessed stalker Masha (Sandra Bernhard), who's hidden in Jerry's car. Rupert slams the door on her face.We're stopped with a flash-bulb freeze frame as the opening credits run. From inside the world of Jerry's car, two hands press hard against the window looking out toward the crazed fans in a mob outside trying to fight their way in. Between the hands peering intensely inside is the illuminated face of our most confident and committed protagonist. Immediately we're faced with opposite sides of a looking glass.Masha is pulled out and Jerry is pushed in. Rupert takes advantage of his situation and jumps into the car with Jerry, again separating himself from the manic autograph hounds just outside the door. As he enters the car, he leaves behind the identity of just being a fan. He and Jerry now have a connection. He now has been given the green light, the blessing of being in the right place at the right time to get what he wants. By coming in contact with his dream nothing stands in his way of reaching out and taking it.Their conversation in the car lets us know Rupert is a comedian who deeply admires Jerry. Jerry is tired from doing his show, but he politely hears Rupert out. The rest of the film soars high into Rupert's imagination based on this simple exchange.Rupert is deceivingly simplistic, but with serious mental health issues. His will to succeed is never sidetracked or affected by outside realities. Rupert only wants one thing: to be a TV talk show host. Nothing will stand in his way. Without a moment's hesitation we find him in ruthlessly embarrassing situations, worthless confrontations, simply for his insistence on turning aspiration into execution. As we follow him and fellow stalker Masha to the bitter end, we see there's no stopping Rupert in getting what he wants. He'll eventually succeed, but to a questionable cost. All he wants is Jerry to recognize his talent and put him on the show. He wants to be friends with Jerry. He wants to be better than Jerry. He wants to bury Jerry. Rupert's problem is that never stops to consider fantasy from reality.The two realities that exist in this film are Rupert's committed fantasy and our outside, unattached, onlooker perception. We see Rupert resting his finger on the receiver of the pay phone waiting for the ultimate call from Jerry. The basement scene with him on set sitting between cardboard cut-outs of Liza Minnelli and Jerry facing Rupert as he mocks up conversation between them.All the conversations Rupert and Jerry have: the office calls where Jerry begs Rupert to host the show, the restaurant meetings where Jerry opens up to Rupert, even to the point where Rupert is being asked for autographs instead of Jerry, or the other patrons in the restaurant are peering across the room at them and can't believe the celebrity sighting they've encountered.Being on TV with Jerry and the high school principal who marries him to his bartender crush then admits, on the air, that Rupert was right all these years and those who doubted him were wrong.The two most effective examples of these two parallel realities are the pull back shot of the laughing audience wallpaper to which he's performing to. Digging further into the dream is the looping laugh track that plays behind his center staged creation.One weekend, Rupert invites a date, Rita, to accompany him when he shows up uninvited at Langford's country home. When Langford returns home to find Rupert and Rita settling in, he angrily tells Rupert to leave. While Jerry yells at him, Rupert continues trying to stay in his good graces, until an embarrassed Rita gets Rupert to finally leave.When the straight approach does not work, Rupert hatches a kidnapping plot with the help of Masha; they both grab Jerry off the street while he is walking from his offices to lunch and hold him hostage at Masha's late parents Manhattan townhouse. As ransom, Rupert phones the TV station and demands that he be given the opening spot on that evening's episode of Langford's show (guest hosted by Tony Randall), and that the show be broadcast in normal fashion. The network bosses, lawyers, and the FBI agree to his demands, with the understanding that Langford will be released once the show airs. Between the taping of the show and the broadcast, Masha has her "dream date" with Langford, who is duct-taped to a chair. Langford convinces her to untie him and he manages to escape.In a five minute sequence, Rupert's stand-up routine is well received by the audience. In his act, he describes his troubled upbringing while simultaneously laughing at his circumstances. Rupert closes by confessing to the studio audience that he kidnapped Langford in order to break into show business. The audience laughs, believing it to be part of his act. Rupert responds by saying, "Tomorrow you'll know I wasn't kidding and you'll all think I'm crazy. But I figure it this way: better to be king for a night, than a schmuck for a lifetime." He then shows up at the bar where Rita is bar-tending to show off to himself on the TV before he is taken away by the FBI agents.The movie closes with a news report of Rupert's release from prison after serving two years and nine months of his six-year prison sentence for kidnapping... set to a montage of storefronts stocking his "long-awaited" autobiography, 'King for a Night', stating that Rupert still considers Jerry Langford his friend and mentor, and that he is currently weighing several "attractive offers", including comedy tours and a film adaptation of his memoirs. (Note: it is unclear if the final scenes are real, or just another product in the deranged Rupert's mind about achieving fame and fortune). The final scene shows a stiff Rupert taking the stage for a television special with a live audience and an announcer enthusiastically introducing him, while Rupert himself forces a smile and nervously prepares to address his audience.
    

Where to watch The King of Comedy (1982) movie online

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Where to watch The King of Comedy (1982) movie online

Your region:USA

The King of Comedy is currently streaming on the following OTT platforms in USA

Your region:
USA