Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
2011 Directed by Rodman Flender
Synopsis
A documentary that follows the former Tonight Show. Filmed during Conan’s ”Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television” comedy tour, after his departure from the Tonight Show, takes viewers into an intimate journey of O’Brien’s life.
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Fascinating, problematic exploration of Conan O'Brien's weird in-between time between THE TONIGHT SHOW and CONAN. O'Brien is at his most irritable and manic here as he leaves the bubble of his NBC show for an even stranger, more disorienting bubble of constant performances, meet and greets and constant demands for his attention. In a weird way, the film reminds me a little of MEETING PEOPLE IS EASY. If nothing else, this movie suggests that celebrity can be as miserable for people seemingly built for it (like Conan) as it is for the gloomy Thom Yorkes of the world.
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To be honest, even if this movie sucked I probably would've rated it positively because I just love that orange haired son of a bitch. It doesn't suck though!
Unlike a lot of comedians who tend to be a lot more mellow off stage, Conan appears to have the same persona on and off stage; he literally can't stop making jokes and being a clownish character. I loved seeing the brief glimpses of his family. His two kids are pretty damn cute. There's some nice cameos from the likes of Jack McBrayer, Tenacious D, John Hammm, etc.
Definitely a much watch for all Conan fans, though most have probably seen it already.
Also on a sidenote. The director is a guy called Rodman Flender. It sounds like a Coen bros pseudonym. Or a porn star.
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For any fan of Conan O'Brien or any avid documentary fan, this is an excellent watch and one that will definitely take you into a place in time when Conan was literally facing a difficult period creating this tour, that would take him across the country in a short amount of time, in order to take his mind away from what happened after his "departure" from NBC and before it was known he would be receiving a new show on TBS. It highlights his humor but also his genuine hurt and anger with those close to him and also his fans who he has a deep gratitude but also frustration with (which is understandable during some of the encounters and interactions.) Its definitely a different but honest look into personally one of the funniest talk show hosts in history.
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Great tour documentary. Conan gets as raw as he can get. Which is pretty much saying no photographs.
I kinda hated seeing "the fans". The man has got better shit to do than take a picture with you. He replaced Letterman for God's sa... never mind. That's a rage for another time.
But it really was a great movie. Funny as you'd expect. Would have liked to see better footage of the show itself.
Also, shame on that racist piece of shit we saw at Enoch, Alberta. I live close to there and the guy who used the term "Jewed down" made me sick to my stomach. It's a very racist part of Canada I live in and it was depressing to see that in this movie. We see Canada for 5 minutes in this movie and we HAD to see the racist idiots who live out here.
Also, I hate the Coco nickname. What? Conan isn't distinct enough?!
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Always entertaining to see Conan's 'forever on stage' persona but this doc fails to capture the drama of his battle for late night in any engaging way.
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The film follows Conan O'Brien after his departure from "The Tonight Show" and his subsequent tour. Throughout, Conan talks about his treatment from NBC and his anger at the system.
The documentary is very honest. At times Conan comes off like a real jerk and the film does not shy away from the frustrations and stresses that face the life of an entertainer, particularly one going through a stressful time. This helps the documentary feel much more substantial than had it been an hour and a half film plugging how great Conan O'Brien is. At times hearing Conan complain so much can be grating though. That's not to say he doesn't deserve to be pissed off, but there are a…
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I've always liked Conan, so this was going to appeal to more than someone who doesn't like or know his work. The Man got shafted out of The Tonight Show I don't think there's too many people who would disagree with that. This film film while based on the tour he did after parting was with NBC is really just a look at how much he loves doing what he does. It's obvious the man loves showbiz, and entertaining people and has a lot of fun doing it.
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Fascinating, problematic exploration of Conan O'Brien's weird in-between time between THE TONIGHT SHOW and CONAN. O'Brien is at his most irritable and manic here as he leaves the bubble of his NBC show for an even stranger, more disorienting bubble of constant performances, meet and greets and constant demands for his attention. In a weird way, the film reminds me a little of MEETING PEOPLE IS EASY. If nothing else, this movie suggests that celebrity can be as miserable for people seemingly built for it (like Conan) as it is for the gloomy Thom Yorkes of the world.
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I may be biased because I already love Conan O'Brien, but I loved this documentary. You can really see how much he loves what he does, and how much the tour took out of him after he was removed from The Tonight Show. It was cool to see some of the history that I experienced as a fan from his point of view. I had a smile on my face pretty much the entire time.
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A great documentary. It was interesting to see the darker side of him behind the scenes. Love you forever, gingersnap.
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Always entertaining to see Conan's 'forever on stage' persona but this doc fails to capture the drama of his battle for late night in any engaging way.
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We wish he could stop. Please, Conan O'Brien. Please stop.
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Not as funny or interesting as I expected from Conan O'Brien
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Tuned in to this out of pseudo-desperation after mainlining the final three seasons of The Larry Sanders Show in the span of a week.
I saw and enjoyed the Legally Prohibited Etc. tour that this film documents, but remember at the time of its release not wanting to hear one more word about how NBC stuck it to Conan. In the film's opening moments, Conan describes himself as one of the "least entitled" people you'll meet, and then spends the next 88 minutes proving himself wrong. He's a dick to everyone he comes into contact with, and his bitterness with the hand he was dealt swallows whole his attempts to pass it off as "all in good fun." (A backstage sequence with Jack McBrayer in particular is painful, and painfully unfunny, to watch.)
I appreciated the warts-and-all take on touring, but left soured by the fact that whenever he's not in front of an audience, Conan O'Brien is miserable.
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Funny doc of Conan on the road doing his tour in-between being let go from The Tonight Show and starting his gig on TBS. Some good laughs sprinkled throughout, while also doing a somewhat respectable job of showing the slightly darker side Conan can have at times and the toll the tour begins to take.
There's not much in the way of a really interesting character arc or payoffs of something like "Senna," nor some of the interesting anecdotal 'factoids' you get with docs like "Man on Wire" or "Side by Side." It is an interesting peak into a six-month slice of a top comedian's life, and you'll get the most out of this if you like Conan's sense of humor (as I do), but not a whole lot else.