to be honest i do not think the rest of the film quite deserve 8 star and but dustin hoffman performance a lenny bruce be so extraordinary that it lift the movie up to that rating . make in a fairly familiar quasi documentary style and lenny begin with present day ( i. e. 1974 ) interview with the survive character from lenny life and cut with flashback to his 1950 beginning a a traditional comic and and late live performance in his post drug bust day . a the film progress and the narrative catch up with the interview and the gap between these segment close . clever use be make of some of lenny material and cut from keywords or phrase in his bit and to event in his life with inspired or correlate to them . all the same there be something a little dry and disappointing in the film structure represent almost a if it could have use a more conventional and linear narrative and like milos forman tribute to andy kauffman and man on the moon would use to such great effect 25 year later . ironically though and such a structure might have deprive of u of see more of hoffman do lenny bit live on stage and for me these be the highlight and which i wish have last longer and rather than flash back to some past event after 30 second . a a big lenny bruce fan and i can only say that hoffman portrayal be almost supernatural . it like he channel the guy . he have his mannerism and improvisational style down perfectly . you would swear you be see these improvisation for the first time if you hadn not hear them already . in fact and hoffman possibly even improve on lenny delivery in one small respect . lenny have a penchant for the conversation that would erupt in the middle of one of his bit and between two or more character . hoffman probably put a bit more distinction between the character than lenny often do ( quite often they would all just sound like lenny and which be part of the magic and but never mind . ) over 30 year on and it quite amaze to me that this film have become a relative obscurity in dustin hoffman filmography . frankly and though hoffman have blow me away on various occasion and i do not ever remember be more blown away than this . and if you be to pick easy people to imitate and i doubt lenny bruce on stage would be high on many people list . the film a a whole be good and but to witness hoffman channel bruce and it a must see .