SHARI AND LAMB CHOP (B-minus) - It is unclear why, at this moment in time, the world needed a profile of puppeteer and entertainer Shari Lewis, who died about 18 years ago, but good for her and her family that her talents have not been forgotten. And this by-the-numbers documentary at least does a good job of showing off her considerable voice talents.
The world of ventriloquism seems like it was eons ago, but it was still quite a thing when I was a kid. Lewis was one of the best. The best parts of this peppy documentary are the extended clips that exhibit Lewis' flawless technique and she banters and duets with the adorable Lamb Chop and pals Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy and Wing Ding.
This is from Lisa D'Apolito, who turned in a similarly sympathetic appreciation of Gilda Radner with the doc "Love, Gilda" in 2018. She tracks Lewis from her breakthrough on Arthur Godfrey's talent show to a stint with Captain Kangaroo and then her own show on NBC in the early 1960s. Lewis also sang and danced, and she persevered into the 1990s, when she ended her career on PBS before her untimely death from cancer in 1998 at age 65. Maybe this involves an acquired taste, but D'Apolito fills in a puzzle piece in the story of 20th century entertainers.
MARTY, LIFE IS SHORT (B) - We skipped what looked like a sappy documentary about SCTV's John Candy last year, and there was no pressing need to screen this fawning appreciation of his former co-star, Martin Short, but it was a good excuse to watch some of Short's classic clips, which never fail to amuse.
Not much more than a glorified home movie, "Marty, Life Is Short" gathers his longtime inner circle -- Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Goldie Hawn, Steve Martin and the "Second City TV" alums -- to pay tribute to what seems like one of the nicest and funniest guys in showbiz the past 50 years. It is directed by another member of the club, director Lawrence Kasden ("Body Heat," "The Big Chill"), who does a great job of curating tons of VHS footage from home movies shot at Short's house and his summer home in Canada. This allows us to appreciate Short the family man and doting husband.
It is obvious from the start that the film will build toward the 2010 death of Short's wife, Nancy Dolman, whom he met during a tour of "Godspell" in the early 1970s. Of course, this tight-knit group of Boomer stars, who all raised kids at the same time, will be effusive in their praise of Short and his devotion to his lovely wife and their fairy tale marriage. But when Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara call him the funniest man they've known, you can be assured they are not just blowing smoke for the cameras. That's quite an honor.
And Kasden has the clips to back up those claims. Short might not be everyone's cup of tea -- you either go along with his hysteria or you don't, I suppose -- but we get all the right highlights here, from Ed Grimley to Jiminy Glick, who will always crack me up. Chalk this up to a pal's homage to one man's persistence in making people laugh.
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