I'm Chevy Chase and You're Not

How are we supposed to feel about Chevy Chase? You've doubtless heard tales of how difficult the actor/comedian can be.   Fellow funnymen and women, directors, studio types, rarely hesitate to relay their trials with the talented but highly troubled soul.  In the new CNN documentary I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT, the subject himself explains that he is mightily complex.  The product of an abusive childhood.  Vulnerable.  Uses humor as a defense mechanism.  We all harbor conflicted histories and coping skills in the face of life.  Why should Chevy get a pass?

The film presents a comprehensive look at Chase's career.  Steely Dan fans will be tickled by the reference to Chevy's brief tenure on the drums with his Bard College compadres.  The Saturday Night Live drama.  The movies, some hit, many miss.  His failed stint as a late night talk show host.  Plenty of drugs.  Three marriages.  Chevy almost forgets the first one, in a cringeworthy moment.  There are more than a few here.

Director Marina Zenovich takes a familiar route, adding poignancy near the end of her doc with recounts of physical illness.  Concerned family members.  An attempt to balance the negatives.  To win viewers' sympathies, especially the non-fans.  Those who maybe liked his work but not him.  Especially those who thought his films were dreck.  Does it work? Is there a human underneath the snark, which has only grown more acidic with time?

Somewhat.  I came away feeling sorry for Chevy Chase.  After all, he only "feels like a hundred dollars."  The film is mostly depressing, and I guess fairly honest.   No one, including Chase, soft pedals his reputation.  Some of his old colleagues refused to be interviewed.  The ones who do - including Dan Aykroyd and Martin Short - seem to be walking on eggshells.  Careful in their summations. Goldie Hawn seems genuine. Community director Jay Chandrasekhar laughs nervously as he remembers the awkwardness on set.  But he would work with the guy again, he insists. 

It is stated that Chevy apologized to some of his colleagues.  Hopefully some of them were genuine.  In any event, the legacy of his better moments remain untarnished.

As with most recent docs, there is nothing particularly impressive about the format.  The archival clips from SNL and movies such as CADDYSHACK and FLETCH leap off the screen in their energy, reminding us how anemic (in content and in form) today's offerings are.