A lot of people who caught Sarah Silverman's show-stopping turn in The Aristocrats are already calling her the new Lenny Bruce, but it takes a lot more than a filthy mouth and a knack for provocation to sustain great comedy. And though Silverman's comic timing is almost always impeccable as she revels in taboos from sex to race to 9/11 to AIDS in Jesus is Magic, there's a certain sameness to the material that eventually makes this particular brand of outrageousness feel just a little bit over-thought and, well, tired.
Still, there's a lot of funny stuff in this barely feature-length document of the comedian's live show, at least in spurts, and Silverman makes good use of her fresh-faced, nice-Jewish-girl-next-door persona to deliver a barrage of decidedly non-PC bombshells. The best time to have a baby, she tells us, is "when you're a black teenager." At another point she shares the childhood memory of being raped by a doctor — an experience "so bittersweet for a Jewish girl."
As if realizing that a little of this type of humor goes a long way, director Liam Lynch interrupts the live material with a series of staged music-video type numbers and semi-improvised backstage sequences, but none of these detours are particularly engaging, and the effect feels a lot like padding. Silverman fans will find much to like in Jesus is Magic, but the film would have probably played better as an hour-long HBO Special. Also stars Bob Odenkirk and Brian Posehn.
Sarah Silverman : Jesus is Magic (R) opens Dec. 16 at Tampa Theatre in Tampa and Burns Court Cinemas in Sarasota. Call to confirm. 3 stars.
This article appears in Dec 14-20, 2005.
