Lenny
1974, R, 112 min.
Directed by Bob Fosse, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner, Gary Morton.

This striking black-and-white film biography of the life of Lenny Bruce is a small Hollywood gem. Hoffman does a great job of capturing the Bruce vibe, and as his wife and stripper, Honey, Perrine delivers perhaps the best work of her career. From highs to lows, director Bob Fosse (All That Jazz) details the life of another artist who fried in the glare of the spotlight.

This article appears in July 21 • 2000.

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.