Legally Inhibited and Funny, Coco-style

CONAN O'BRIEN CAN'T STOP (2010)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

 Something historic happened on "The Tonight Show" in 2010: a TV host (Conan O'Brien) was booted from a long-standing franchise for poor ratings. Incredibly, the ratings did build on "The Tonight Show" during the late night wars between Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno, higher than most even expected. Still, Jay Leno, the former "Tonight Show" host and former host of "The Jay Leno Show" (also canned for poor ratings), took back the spot that he and NBC gave to Conan forcing Conan to be barred from TV and the Internet for six months with a 45 million paycheck to boot. So did Conan sit back and cry over losing the coveted "Tonight Show" spot? No, he went on a 44-city tour entitled "The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour" and tried be funny despite being angry.

"Conan O'Brien Can't Stop" is a documentary that covers all the backstage drama behind the tour. What one has to remember about Conan is that he is sarcastic but never mean or mean-spirited - it is all in good fun. Whether he is insisting on firing his personal assistant for screwing up a fish order with unwanted butter sauce or cracking wise at the expense of Jack McBrayer's Southern background, or losing his cool temporarily over having to sign autographs or have pictures taken with his fans (many of whom have backstage passes to meet El Conando), Conan is all about having fun and about nonstop performance, and also about pleasing all his fans. Of course, you can see that his exhaustion is also symptomatic of how he was treated by NBC. He is also pissed at Jay Leno, and fantasizes receiving a phone message from Mr. Big Chin ("What is it like to have a soul?"). Everything is a joke to Conan, but it doesn't mean we don't see a man who is bitter over the job he truly coveted - he had to vent.

"Conan O'Brien Can't Stop" is entertaining and intriguing and director Rodman Flender doesn't back away from showing Conan's nervousness or his four-letter-word moments. I do wish we saw more footage of Conan's actual stage performances - mostly we get his country rock band performances (he performs ably with singer Jack White, and more than once does his guitar riff on "Seven Nation Army"). The film is essentially all about backstage shenanigans (we only get a fleeting glimpse of Conan's wife and his kids) and comedy tour bits, but it is all infused with the notion that Conan is angry. It is not at the amateurish level of a basic reality TV show - we are not talking about "Keeping Up with the O'Briens" here. One especially funny scene is when he is asked, on one of his days off, to perform for his 25th college reunion anniversary. The man simply can't stop.