This awkward biopic traces the troubled life of notorious comic Lenny Bruce, as embodied by Dustin Hoffman in a good but still Hoffmanesque performance. Bruce's material is still offensive, out-there, and difficult, but its timeliness (heavy on the evils of racial stereotyping and epithets) is starting to fade. Segregation? The Kennedy assassination? We're talking old school.

The mostly-narrative/partially-documentary-interview-style is awkward, and the black and white film stock makes Lenny feel much less real than he was. True stories demand color. Lenny Bruce, in particular, needs all the color he can get.