[Editor's Note: A Piece of Work opens tomorrow, Fri., June 25 at the Tampa Theatre. There will be a Q&A with producer Seth Keal and cinematographer Charles Miller — both recent USF grads — immediately following three different screenings. More details at the bottom of this review …]
Getting old sucks. Just ask Joan Rivers. The comedian, now 77 and still working harder than most people half her age, is locked in a mortal battle against aging. You already know about the legendary amount of plastic surgery she's had during her six decades in the public eye, but Rivers' fight against the clock runs more than skin deep. Early in Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, a funny and compelling documentary that follows the comedian for about a year and finds her just as sharp and relevant as ever, Rivers shows us her current date book and compares it to ones from year's past. Demand ain't what it used to be.
This article appears in Jun 24-30, 2010.