Gallagher
(USA, 102 min.)
Dir. Josh Forbes
Section: American Stories (World Premiere)
Comedians are messy people, but few were as messy as prop comic Leo Anthony Gallagher, professionally known simply as Gallagher. I mean this both literally – his signature “Sledge-O-Matic” routine would soak audience members in pieces of sledgehammered watermelon – and figuratively, as the Ohio native turned a 15-year stint as the world’s most successful primetime comedian into something of relative obscurity after he was deemed racist, homophobic, and overall unpleasantly cantankerous. One would assume that a documentary about Gallagher would be just as chaotic as the man himself and, in that sense, Josh Forbes’ new, eponymous documentary is true to its subject, though its sloppiness doesn’t quite come close to the satisfaction of Gallagher’s watermelon-smashing antics.
The first and sure-to-be definitive cradle-to-grave documentary about the comedian, Gallagher begins with a strong central tension. Forbes sets out to tell Gallagher’s story himself, narrating that the comedian forever changed his life after he discovered him on cable TV (the details of how or why is one of the few stones the doc leaves unturned). There’s just one problem: Gallagher’s not interested. “I can’t get people interested in my comedy,” he laments walking through his hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida. “Why in the hell are they interested in the background behind the guy who’s writing the jokes we don’t give a shit about?”
The year is 2018, five years before Gallagher’s death. He is still touring Middle America, though mostly to older, longtime fans in small comedy clubs. The fortune amassed during his heyday has all but disappeared and his health has significantly deteriorated following multiple heart attacks. From the outside looking in, he can’t help but look washed up. Yet, his unending creative spark and sharp comedic timing remain intact. He performs to a Florida crowd to big laughs. He scrolls through a Notes app filled with hundreds of ideas, from poems to patents. Even the crew’s aforementioned attempt to capture Gallagher reminiscing about his hometown quickly morphs into the comic making a hilarious mockery of the ordeal, prancing up and down sidewalks wearing a wig and sarcastically jeering at the camera. It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.
This sombre, esoteric admiration of the funnyman has become a familiar tone for these types of bio-docs (see: Belushi, Jim & Andy, or Gilbert for reference), yet Gallagher initially feels fresh thanks to Forbes’ unfiltered access. The documentary inevitably does the typical song and dance of recalling the subject’s humble beginnings and meteoric rise, however it is coloured by anecdotes from countless notable figures in Gallagher’s life, from estranged family members and romantic partners to former collaborators to even notable comedians like Jimmy Kimmel, Howie Mandel, and Bill Burr. Spliced in-between are all kinds of archival sources, from home videos and news clippings to even his diaries. The opening frames of the film even feature a health monitor recording of a catheter being inserted into his heart. Beneath all of this engaging material, Gallagher is revealed to be a deeply tragic figure coloured by an abusive childhood, so desperate to release others’ tension through his comedy that he never was able to reconcile his own.
The juxtaposition of Forbes’ character study with Gallagher’s reluctance to be on camera gives the film an almost investigative quality, unearthing the mystery and history of a man who always put his work first and his personal life second. This most notably comes to a head when Forbes himself gets in touch with Gallagher’s brother, Ron, whom Leo allowed to perform as his copycat – the two looked similar enough – to provide him financial support. However, after Gallagher II (you read that right) began to dilute his brand, Leo told Ron to stop, but he refused. Thus began a legal battle that saw brother suing brother in a rather publicized litigation, after which the two stopped speaking. Needless to say, Ron is even less interested in taking part in the film than his brother; after a dismissive introductory phone call, Ron stops acknowledging Forbes’ outreach altogether, leading him on a wild goose chase around Sarasota, Florida to see if he can get him on camera. The culmination of these events makes for one of the film’s most daring and insightful moments and dare not be spoiled.
Gallagher’s sibling rivalry feels directly tied to the film’s tragic themes, however it proves to be just one part of the long, spiralling descent down the comic’s fall from grace. The doc recounts every thread it can, however it loses the plot the further down the rabbit hole it goes. They treat each tangent like a piece of some larger puzzle when a majority of them feel like filler material for a montage. How much do we need to harp on Gallagher’s incredulous run for governor of California, or the time he notoriously stormed out of an interview with Marc Maron? The pursuit of detail is admirable. However, the present Gallagher is clearly the more compelling element of the film, so digging up so many old graves diminishes the underdog quality of the comic’s so-called creative genius that Forbes conveys in the film’s first act. Even if you consider a potential lack of material in his reluctance to participate, the solution is not to unspool the comic’s downfall as though it were his Wikipedia page.
Thankfully, the film calibrates its focus by the end, as an emaciated Gallagher prepares to play a show in Marina Del Rey, California. His deteriorating health has begun to get the better of him, and his spark is thoroughly diminished. Yet the film can’t help but let him go out in a blaze of glory; an earlier, sprier Gallagher recites a triumphant poem as footage of him smashing a watermelon with a flaming hammer plays in slow motion. We witness the feeble Gallagher not as a pathetic old man, but as a comedic martyr. It is undeniably moving to watch Forbes and his team reassemble Gallagher’s fire so that he can go out on his own terms, even if the mileage of this triumph may vary depending on how you view him. The filmmakers’ thoroughness digs up a few too many old grudges to fully reframe the comedian’s work as inspiring or misunderstood for newcomers. However, for longtime fans, this is certainly a must-see and a fitting swan song for comedy’s ultimate ugly duckling.
Gallagher premiered at DOC NYC.
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