Sundance 2016 Movie Review: ‘Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You’

SUNDANCE 2016 MOVIE REVIEW: “NORMAN LEAR: JUST ANOTHER VERSION OF YOU”

The Independent’s resident film guru, Adam Mast, is currently at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, and will be bringing readers the occasional review directly from this venerable independent movie haven. So without further ado…

From the creation of “All in the Family” to his role as an activist to a writing stint with “South Park” during his golden years, the great Norman Lear might just be the greatest comedy writing icon of our age. With groundbreaking television efforts like the aforementioned “All in the Family,” “Maude,” “Good Times,” and “The Jeffersons” to his credit, Lear would use the power of laughter to take on issues like race, feminism, and abortion head on in a time when such subject matter was deemed too taboo for network television.

In “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You,” documentarians Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady follow Lear as he records his memoirs. This legendary industry staple is very forthcoming as he takes us on a journey through his reputable career, but he also reflects on the rough times, including a relationship with a father he barely knew and how that would shape the man he would become.

There’s a treasure trove of wonderful stuff in “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You,” including rare behind-the-scenes script meetings for “Good Times,” “The Jeffersons,” and “Maude,” as well as affectionate reunion footage of Lear with Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner where they reminisce about the good old days. And of course, we get dozens of insightful interviews — some current and some archival — with the numerous folks Lear has worked with and inspired through the years, including Carroll O’Connor, Rob Reiner, Esther Role, Jon Stewart, Amy Poehler, and John Amos. And those names barely scratch the surface.

Ewing and Grady have fashioned an exquisite balancing act with “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You,” comprising Lear’s professional life, his family life, and his role as an activist against the “moral police” (“just another version of you” is actually a phrase coined by Lear as a sort of motto pertaining to the breaking down  of race barriers), and they juxtapose these aspects of his adult life with dreamlike images of a young boy who would eventually take the television industry by storm.

By the end of “Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You,” it’s perfectly clear that  Lear remains an incredibly important figure in television and entertainment in general, but there’s no doubt that storytelling, in turn, saved this man’s life.

“Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You” isn’t necessarily groundbreaking as a documentary, but it is a fascinating, insightful, joyful, and sometimes heartbreaking look at the life of a truly groundbreaking pioneer in the entertainment industry. And if you’re a fan of Lear’s work, it’s a must-watch.

Watch for more reviews from Sundance 2016 here at The Independent.