I’m not exactly sure when or if this sweet little documentary will open in Chicago, so I’m reviewing it in the hopes that some of you will take notice and keep an eye out when it goes into some level of national expansion in the near future (it does open in New York this weekend and Los Angeles on March 22).
Directed by Ron Frank, Remembering Gene Wilder features a fairly straightforward telling of Wilder’s life, mostly in his own words (presumably from an audio book of his memoir), but also with testimonials from some of his closest friends and family members. It’s got a wry but big-hearted sense of humor, thanks mostly to Wilder’s easy-going storytelling style. The film walks us through his younger days as a stage actor, in which he co-starred on Broadway with Anne Bancroft, who was so taken with the young actor that she told her husband, Mel Brooks, that Wilder would be perfect for the role of Leo Bloom in a movie he was writing called Springtime for Hitler (later retitled The Producers).
Brooks provides some of the best stories about Wilder because the two never stopped being friends, even after they ceased being collaborators on two of the funniest movies ever made: Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. The doc also traces his Jewish upbringing in Milwaukee, Wilder’s career as a filmmaker, his partnership with Richard Pryor, his five-year marriage to Gilda Radner (who died of cancer in 1989), and his subsequent marriage to Karen Boyer (who is interviewed extensively), who was with him until his death in 2016. The section of the movie that explores his involvement and creative decisions in playing the title character in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is particularly informative and a great peek into the way his mind worked, not just as an actor but also in fleshing out characters in very specific ways.
There are additional interviews with Carol Kane (who worked with him early on, as well as on stage in his later years), Alan Alda, and film critic/historian Ben Mankiewicz, who provides some much-needed context for Wilder’s work and impact as a comedian. And using some lovely and touching never-before-seen home movies, director Frank handles Wilder’s final chapter, living with Alzheimer’s, with sensitivity while still showing the ways in which the old Gene showed up in his final days.
Remembering Gene Wilder doesn’t pile on the hyperbolic praise too high; it simply shows us what the man created and was capable of, and lets us figure out in our own time what a subtle genius he was. I adore biographical docs like this so much for their simplicity and ability to lay out a life before us and give us the complete person by the end. Look for it in a theater near you in the coming weeks (we hope).
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