American: The Bill Hicks Story (2009)

Photo-animated feature documentary, uniquely narrated by the 10 people who knew Bill best.

Directors:

Matt Harlock, Paul Thomas

Stars:

Kevin Booth, John Farneti, Bill Hicks

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kevin Booth	...	Himself
John Farneti	...	Himself
Bill Hicks	...	Himself (archive footage)
Lynn Hicks	...	Herself
Mary Hicks	...	Herself
Steve Hicks	...	Himself
Andy Huggins	...	Himself
David Johndrow	...	Himself
James Ladmirault	...	Himself
Dwight Slade	...	Himself

Storyline

Photo-animated feature documentary, uniquely narrated by the 10 people who knew Bill best.

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Plot Keywords:

comic | stand up | deceased | comedian | stand up comedian | 

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Taglines:

The greatest comic of his generation. Kicked ass. Took names. Changed the game.

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Genres:

Documentary | Animation | Biography | Comedy

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 April 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

American: the Bill Hicks story

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$5,872 (USA) (8 April 2011)

Gross:

$90,275 (USA) (10 June 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American the Movie, Jackamo Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 59 min (TV)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A 2010 poll on British TV station Channel 4 placed Bill Hicks at number four, two places higher than the last time they ran a poll in 2007.

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Connections

References Shane (1953)

User Reviews

A very enjoyable documentary about the life of one of the greatest Amerian stand-ups...

To the people in the know, Bill Hicks is revered as one of the greats. I must admit I wasn't all that familiar with his work before seeing this documentary. I may have seen the odd snippet here and there, maybe even caught part of the odd TV appearance when getting back late from the pub, but this is the first time I've actually sat down and watched any his work properly. You'll be pleased to know you've got a convert right here! I can see why he was so successful over here in the UK; his style of humour is just the kind of thing we love. But I digress, here's a bit about the film.

We are told the story of Bill Hicks right from birth until his death, tragically young, only 32 years later. It's quite fascinating how he started out as a teenager with his friend Dwight Slade, and how they'd sneak out of the house to go and play gigs at a local comedy club. He gains some success and ends up solo when Dwight has to move away and we follow his career through alcoholism, drug abuse and back again. It's only when he cleaned up that he had his greatest successes though. Sadly he never really made it really big in his home country during his lifetime, but he left us with some truly memorable and thought-provoking comedy… In my book, a genius.

Rather than just having lots of talking heads in between scenes of Bill on stage, the filmmakers used some photo-animation to illustrate certain parts of the story. This worked very well and served to keep the audience interested in the narrative. Many of his friends and family contribute to the story, which gives this version of events a lot of credence. I found I was not only intrigued by his life story, but also by his comedy. I will certainly be looking at more of the work of Bill Hicks… Recommended.

My Score: 8.2/10.

IMDb Score: 7.9/10 (based on 1,716 votes at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82/100 (based on 55 reviews counted at the time of going to press).