Who is the Audience for This Movie?

People who like documentaries that focus mostly on one person.

What I Liked About This Movie

Before watching Crumb I had never seen any of Robert Crumb’s art the only reason I knew his name was because Aesop Rock name drops him in one of his songs. With that in mind I was expecting a mildly entertaining documentary that judging by the artwork on the cover of the case looked like it had humorous elements. I feel I mine as well state this now; Crumb is the best documentary I have ever seen.

Right from the credit sequence it is obvious that you are in for a strange experience. The movie starts with a tracking shot of a naked woman figurine. At first it seemed odd to me it started it that way but as you begin to learn about Crumb it is perfectly fitting. On first glance you get of him it is hard to gauge the type of person he is. It’s not until you see his art that you begin to be interested in finding out more about him. His art is both strange and erotic I could not help but think he was on a lot of drugs after seeing some of his older work. Fittingly, he openly admits that he did in fact take LSD early in his career to come up with far out ideas. Both his mannerisms and appearance are something to behold. He looks like he would only fit in if style wise we were still stuck in the 1950’s. Of all the people following documentaries I have seen I have never been so fascinated by a single person before.

Not only do we learn all Crumb’s darkest secrets he also sheds light on his family and they really do not hold anything back. In fact, his family members laugh most of it off making the scenes involving them very perplexing. At the end they state what happened to his family after the movie was released and the audience is given an insanely heartbreaking piece of information that adds a lot of depth to his family relationship.

I could go on about the perfectly tight editing and other aspects but I think I have said enough.

What Didn’t Work For Me

Nothing.

Should You Watch This Movie?

Crumb is the first documentary I have reviewed that deserves a rating of 13 (that means yes).

My Rating (Out of 13)