Final Rating: 4/5
Director Tony Benna’s oft funny, oft heartfelt documentary André is an Idiot follows the journey of André Ricciardi after he’s diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. The conceit was André’s idea to leave a sort of record of himself behind and to share in his experience in the hopes of helping others steer clear of this avoidable fate, all the while aware that his was precisely that… thus the title.
André is the kind of person you’d meet and instantly deign a character. From winning the newlywed game with his wife Janice, (a Canadian whom he initially wed as a green card marriage) to purchasing a pair of Kim Kardashian’s pants with the thought he may be able to clone her one day because you can’t wash them. He is a veritable torrent of thoughts, ideas and enigmatic energy. He is forthright, and full of the manner of perspective one perhaps only gains when faced with mortality. From his heavy alcohol and drug use earlier in his life, to ignoring symptoms that could have led to an earlier diagnosis, he lays it out to be examined.
The film is not overtly saccharine or manipulating in the way it presents his reality, or what he’s facing. It follows his day to day life as he rides the ups and downs in an effort to defeat this insidious disease, interspersing interviews with friends and family. He’s the kind of guy to see things in the best light possible and so never especially frames anything in an overly negative light.
This makes him a likeable guy and rarely lets the anger or bitterness, which is undoubtedly simmering under the surface shine through. In saying that, André doesn’t come across as that manner of person, though admits to having those moments even if we aren’t privy to them.
André made his living in advertising and this was a creative outlet that was both a blessing and a curse. He had all these thoughts and ideas to unleash his creative talents, but when facing death he remarks what a ridiculous thing he chose to be good at. It’s that sort of thinking that allows the film to become a therapeutic exercise in order to assess his life. He even goes back to his old ad agency in an effort to develop a marketing campaign raising awareness around the importance of going for a colonoscopy.
André faces his plight with positivity, a keenly dark sense of humour and an openness that not many could muster, or make so public. This is juxtaposed with the overall effect on friends and family, including his wife, daughters and best friend Lee who are caught in the center of this whirlwind. As the story unfolds, more information is given as to just how preventable this was, and while giving more credence to the title, it also highlights the folly in his personal philosophy of, “no doctors”.
At various points poignant, heartfelt, funny, ridiculous, it’s unflinchingly honest from André’s perspective. It serves both as a warning, to get tested for colon cancer and an inspirational reminder to embrace the joy and meaning in life when you can. He wants to make the most of the time he has left, constantly cracking jokes going and even going so far as to hire a death yell guy (someone who helps you record a set of last words, shouting them out into the open wilderness) in a scene that is both ludicrous and moving.
The film utilizes interviews, and stop motion animation to illustrate some of his thoughts and ideas, all of which serve to help us get to know and humanizes him in a manner which is very much André. Ultimately while it’s a sad story, it’s not one that seems to overtly strive to make you feel that way, and being as honest as it is seems a necessity for it to have the impact it does, and am sure aimed for. At one point he expounds that final death is that when nobody remembers you, and I can promise, you will certainly remember André.
Thank you to The Lede Company for the screener.
