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The funniest man in most of the world

Albert Brooks, established in U.S., tackles 'Muslim World'

By Todd Leopold
CNN

Albert Brooks tries out a routine in "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World."

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(CNN) -- Albert Brooks was done with comedy.

He knew it, too. He was on the "Tonight Show" and announced he was finished.

Then he proved it by stuffing food in his pants, spritzing seltzer in his face and generally doing everything for a laugh. But he knew it was over -- the audience's howling notwithstanding.

It wasn't, of course. That routine, recalled here, took place in the 1970s, when Brooks was still known primarily for his stand-up. He had yet to make his short films for "Saturday Night Live" or embark on a career of writing, directing and starring in his own films.

Besides, Albert Brooks has always been funny. How can someone born with the name Albert Einstein not be?

Brooks is probably best known for his acting, such as the character parts in "Taxi Driver" or "Broadcast News" ("You'll never make more than $19,000 a year!"), or as the voice of the father in "Finding Nemo." The films he's written and directed, however, show the most inventive side of Albert Brooks -- his distinctive, neurotically deadpan sense of humor.

In "Real Life" (1979) he chronicled a family's everyday activities, only to sensationalize the footage when it wasn't as exciting as he wanted. "Modern Romance" (1981) may contain the most brutal answering machine scene this side of "Swingers."

"Lost in America" (1985) featured a couple dropping out of the rat race, only to lose their "nest egg" in Las Vegas. And "Defending Your Life" (1991), probably Brooks' most accomplished film, starred him as a dead man who literally has to prove his life had meaning.

Brooks' new film is "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World." And yes, that's what he does. (Watch Brooks note one of his rules: "No monkey brains" -- 3:52)

Eye on Entertainment laughs heartily.

Eye-opener

In "Muslim World," Brooks plays ... well, Albert Brooks, a comedian booked by the U.S. government -- in the form of Fred Thompson, playing an ex-senator named Fred Thompson -- to determine the Muslim sense of humor.

Brooks sets off for India -- obviously not aware the country's primary religion is Hinduism -- and proceeds to try out his comedy routines. They don't go over as well as they did in the Johnny Carson days.

Then he ends up on the other side of the border, in Pakistan, and also struggles. He could change his material for a better response, but the thing is, Albert Brooks is his material. And cerebral, deadpan neurotic Jews don't necessarily win over Muslim audiences. (The Arab news network Al Jazeera picks up on this with a funny bit.)

"Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" is a mockumentary, but some people aren't laughing. The film was originally supposed to be released by Sony, but the studio didn't like the title, so the film is now going out under the imprint of Warner Independent Pictures (like CNN, a division of Time Warner).

However, though early reviews describe its jokes as hit-or-miss, the film is earning Brooks' best clippings since "Nemo," and the best for one of his own films since "Defending Your Life."

"Wouldn't this be a great world if insecurity and desperation made us more attractive?" Brooks' character Aaron Altman asked in "Broadcast News." Brooks knows better; it's laughter that does the trick.

"Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" opens in limited release Friday.

On screen

"Underworld: Evolution" brings back Kate Beckinsale as Selene, whose trying to end the battle with the werewolves. It opens Friday.

"The New World," Terrence Malick's film about the Pocahontas-John Smith story, goes into wider release Friday. It stars Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer and Q'Orianka Kilcher.

The documentary "Why We Fight" doesn't subscribe to an upbeat view of the military, like the Frank Capra World War II documentaries from whence it gets its title. Rather, it's a look at the military-industrial complex, and says its maintenance requires an atmosphere of perpetual fear. The film opens in limited release Friday.

On the tube

Miss America, where have you gone? This year, the longtime Atlantic City staple has moved to Las Vegas, and the only network that will carry it is on cable. The pageant is 8 p.m. Saturday, CMT.

"Saturday NIght Live" welcomes Peter Sarsgaard and the Strokes, 11:30 p.m., NBC.

"The one great principle of the English law is to make business for itself," noted Charles Dickens, and to prove his point, he created the never-ending case of Jarndyce v. Jarndyce, the center of his novel "Bleak House." The work -- considered by some to be Dickens' greatest -- gets a film version starring Gillian Anderson, among others, beginning 9 p.m. Sunday, PBS.

Sound waves

"The Greatest" (Matador), the new CD by Cat Power, comes out Tuesday.

"Who You Fighting For," (Rhino), a new album by UB40, comes out Tuesday.

Johnny Maestro may not have had a hit in years, but his legacy is secure in at least three classic songs: the Crests' "Sixteen Candles" and "Step by Step," and the sublime "The Worst That Could Happen" by the Brooklyn Bridge. Maestro sang lead on all three. The songs are among the highlights of "The Best of 1958-94" (Shout! Factory), which comes out Tuesday.

Way back in the days of yore, there used to be something called the "spoken-word album." Now the closest equivalent is the audiobook. Fans can get a taste of both when RCA/Legacy re-releases Truman Capote reading from his own "In Cold Blood." The CD comes out Tuesday.

Paging readers

"The Last Templar" (Dutton), a thriller by Raymond Khoury that has drawn comparison to "The Da Vinci Code," comes out Thursday.

James Carville and Paul Begala (both, it should be noted, CNN analysts) are still ticked off about the state of the nation. They give their ideas for the future in "Take It Back" (Simon and Schuster), which comes out Monday.

Video center

"Flightplan," starring Jodie Foster as a terrified airline passenger whose child has gone missing, comes out on video Tuesday.

"The Aristocrats," the most obscene movie of 2005 -- and probably the funniest -- comes out on video Tuesday. And yes, it features the complete versions of the joke told by Bob Saget and others -- versions that had to be trimmed for the film.

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