Showtime's Belushi documentary is interested in the fascinating paradox of John Belushi

Variety

"It may sound like an evasion tactic when a documentary keeps insisting that its subject was a nice, warm, beloved person," says Owen Gleiberman of R.J. Cutler's documentary on the comedy icon. "But the fascinating paradox of John Belushi is that he was a loyal, gregarious Midwestern sweetheart who also happened to be the living spirit of anarchy. Belushi, which in addition to the expected wealth of performance clips is built around an intimate array of photographs (plus Belushi’s handwritten letters, which are marked by a plainspoken sincerity that feels a step removed from his public image), traces the many sides of that contradiction."

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• Belushi seems uninterested in what it was that made John Belushi tick and what drove him to the darkest of depths when he literally seemed to have it all: Instead, R.J. Cutler's documentary "is content to present a slickly produced compilation of photos, film clips and behind-the-scenes footage without bringing any new insight to the proceedings," says Peter Sobczynski. He adds: "Someday, there will be a take on the life and work of John Belushi that is as fascinating, complex, and entertaining as he was. Belushi, however, is not quite that film."
• The only problem with documentaries about famous deceased addicts is that the final half hour is always the same movie: denial and decline
• Belushi is a lot more than just another look at a star who succumbed to drug abuse -- it's a celebration of talent
• Belushi is like a kind of book-on-tape with visual guides, celebrating Belushi’s anarchic energy and showing how it doomed him
• Director R.J. Cutler hopes Belushi fans discover he “was more than just an awesomely funny guy and fearless comedian": “One of the important aspirations was to capture the lightness and the joy that John not only experienced but that he brought to the world,” Cutler says, adding: "He was a writer, a director and a visionary. He was forever reinventing himself and forever stretching."