To your average, everyday u.k citizen, the name John belushi might conjure up the image of a toga wearing, frat boy slob or one half of the blues brothers, but little else, yet in the u.s, the man was a bona fide star. Watching this thoroughly detailed documentary, the viewer regardless of nationality, is shown he was so much more. A tortured but driven soul, belushi redefined physical comedy, forgoing his SNL colleague Chevy chase's perchant for pratfalls, belushi instead brought a dark, anarchic energy to his comedy. His skits on SNL are legendary and some are featured here in all there glory. 'belushi' the documentary, for all its many examples of its subject's genius, works best when it shows the man behind the onscreen persona and is at times as heartbreaking as it is revealing, belushi's humanity is all to relatable and shows that all the creative gifts in the world are of scant comfort if you are not comfortable in your own skin. As a time capsule of the golden age of SNL, everyone who was everyone is featured albeit it in archive footage or written correspondence form. These include Harold ramis,Lorne Michaels, jane Curtin and the aforementioned Chevy chase , etc. 'Belushi' is an excellent documentary that is moving,insightful and both celebrates the life of and mourns the loss of a tru comedy icon. All of a sudden I want a cheeseburger.
Review of Belushi
