Blogorium Review: American - The Bill Hicks Story

Today I'm looking at the new(ish) documentary about comedian / social critic / philosopher Bill Hicks, who died of pancreatic cancer in 1994 at the age of 32. Hicks remains criminally unknown by most, in part because his rise coincided with fellow Houston, Texas based comedian Sam Kinison, who I imagine almost everyone knows. Over the last 17 years, however, Hicks has been increasingly pointed to for his comedy being ahead of its time, particularly with bits involving politics, celebrity, fundamentalism, and drugs.

The documentary is told in equal parts by his family (mother Lynn, brother Steve, and sister Mary) friends, and other Houston based comedians that worked closely with Bill, as well as small doses of interviews with Hicks. Directed Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas, American avoids the standard "talking head" documentary approach, only showing the interviewees briefly at the beginning and ending of the film.

Instead, Harlock and Thomas use an animated version of the "photo montage" technique, popularized in The Kid Stays in the Picture, although their approach is far more aggressive in providing "motion" and creating imagery where there was none. They often appropriate available photos of Hicks and friends Dwight Slade and Kevin Booth to generate moments discussed by the participants, like a mushroom experience which moves from the strictly biographical towards the metaphorical.

The effect can be a bit too much early in the film, but when Hicks' stand-up career begins to bear the fruit of recorded shows, that takes over by and large, with interviews becoming the connective tissue. Much to my surprise, there is a wealth of material from his early days that I'd never seen, and the footage follows him as Hicks moves from clean-cut young comic to hard drinking drug user to clean and sober social critic. The transition (much of which I confess to being ignorant of) is where fans and neophytes alike are going to benefit the most from American: The Bill Hicks Story - there's not much in the way of "famous people eulogizing Bill" that tends to accompany comedian biographies, but instead a more personal approach, an insight into the Bill Hicks offstage.

Because of the availability of his HBO Special or the Revelations show, parts of the last third of the film might be familiar territory, but what's really impressive is the footage not seen to this point; footage that was partially available in audio format, but for which no major release existed*, and I'd certainly never seen the footage Hicks and Booth made while driving to Waco, Texas during the Branch Davidian standoff. The early performances are also a revelation: here is Bill Hicks, not yet fully formed as a comedian, but still able to keep the crowd completely under his control while telling family anecdotes. Hicks' evolution over the course of his short career (16 years) was alone worth seeing the film for.

American: The Bill Hicks Story is a must-see for Hicks fans, particularly if you've already seen It's Just a Ride and his available specials. You're going to learn a great deal you probably didn't know, particularly if you (like the Cap'n) were weaned on Hicks from the albums Relentless, Arizona Bay, and Rant in E Minor. Casual viewers who have heard of Bill Hicks will also enjoy the documentary, although its overly "animated" take on the photo-montage composition (much more aggressive than The Kid Stays in the Picture) may diminish your experience a bit. American is currently available on Video On Demand, PSN, and I can only assume XBox Live, with a DVD / Blu-Ray to follow.


* I must admit that while I am aware of the Bill Hicks boxed set, the one that contains two CDs and two DVDs, I do not have it and do not know what footage is available on those discs.