Being a curmudgeon is a part of his persona, but it surely’s not that tough to search out proof of Marc Maron being weak. Simply take heed to the introductions on his “WTF” podcast, during which the standup veteran monologues about no matter’s on his thoughts that day. And certain, some listeners fast-forward via these components to get to the interview. However if you wish to get to know the “actual Marc Maron,” he’s prepared to reveal his soul — it simply must be on his personal phrases.
A few of the most revealing content material within the SXSW doc “Are We Good?” comes from Maron’s podcast, together with a heartbreaking snippet of audio during which he proclaims the dying of his companion Lynn Shelton to his listeners. Director Steven Feinartz does get one disarming on-camera interview with Maron about Shelton’s dying, which occurred out of the blue in Might 2020 from “some blood illness no person knew about,” as Maron places it. It’s visibly tough for him to speak about it, and when one in every of his cats interrupts him, Maron appears relieved to cease sharing and make a joke.
Early on, a fellow comedian describes Maron as an “asshole.” He’s a damaged man, actually, and an opinionated one. His humorousness is darkish and chopping, and he doesn’t maintain again with withering reads on matters like “politically incorrect” comedians (he calls them “hacks with an excuse”) and the Joe Rogan podcasting empire. However an asshole? Perhaps if he wasn’t proper, as he’s when he tells Feinartz that his thought of animating nonetheless pictures for the doc isn’t going to work. “I’ve by no means seen it not be hokey,” Maron says. Feinartz does it anyway, and the impact is strictly what Maron warned him it will be.
Maron was an asshole again in his cocaine days. He admits that. An enormous difficulty with “Are We Good?” is that its talking-heads biographical segments are painfully typical, and pair awkwardly with the movie’s extra intimate materials. A greater movie would have discovered a via line, however as it’s this looks like two incomplete documentaries: One about Marc Maron discovering his humorous once more after an particularly darkish interval in his life, and one about his journey via the comedy worlds of the ‘80s and ‘90s in direction of launching “WTF” in 2009.
In between, some darkish stuff occurred that Maron doesn’t need to discuss. Feinartz copes with this by incorporating Maron’s hostility into his movie: He opens with a scene of Maron backstage on the Comedy Retailer, speaking shit and ready for his flip to go up on stage. It’s been some time, and he’s nervous, and he actually doesn’t admire Feinartz being there, not to mention asking him questions. “I’m pushing you away,” Maron says sarcastically, and turns away from the digital camera.
The second tells us one thing about Maron, however the level is made. And with time and repetition, Feinartz’s technique of together with footage of Maron combating the method begins to really feel like an excuse. It’s not his fault he wasn’t in a position to break down Maron’s partitions, he appears to be saying — look what an asshole this man is! However we additionally see a extra delicate Maron cleansing his cats’ litter containers, and chatting with guys about Rush on the file retailer, and being well mannered to his dad’s a lot youthful Republican spouse. The unguarded nature of this footage doesn’t translate into the interviews, and the filmmaker has to take at the least a few of the blame for failing to ascertain that form of rapport together with his topic.
Feinartz primarily helms stand-up specials, and his appreciation for Maron’s work provides “Are We Good?” a few of its strongest — and subtlest — via traces. Feinartz additionally directed Maron’s 2023 particular ”From Bleak to Darkish,” and seeing materials from that set develop from informal remarks to rough-draft highway work to polished bits on HBO offers fascinating perception into the comic’s course of and the craft of joke writing. This isn’t actually the purpose of the film, nonetheless.
What’s the level of “Are We Good?,” then? If it’s to take an intimate look into Maron’s life, the movie is just partially profitable. Though he’s truly fairly charming, usually regardless of himself, Marc Maron is cautious. The one time he let down his guard, it was with Lynn Shelton, and he or she shattered his complete world when she died. So he’s decided to not let that occur once more. That’s comprehensible on a human degree, but it surely takes a particular filmmaker to beat that form of opposition. In “Are We Good?,” even the confessional segments have an undercurrent of resistance to them — an attention-grabbing dynamic, however one which this filmmaker doesn’t know what to do with.
Grade: B-
“Are We Good?” premiered at SXSW 2025. It’s presently in search of U.S. distribution.
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