Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in 2 Pieces explores the career of Steve Martin from a Then vs. Now perspective. The first 15 years of his career as a stand up comic with an arrow through his head make up ‘Then.’ The ‘Now’ deals with his movie career and his life as an artist in general.
The interesting thing about Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in 2 Pieces to me was how the documentary style was as unique as Steve Martin himself. Morgan Neville directed. He brought in very few talking heads. Instead he used photographs and video with Steve Martin himself talking about his career.
The first half of the documentary looked at Steve’s childhood and his early days doing standup. It showed how much he flopped and where he finally began to gain some success. His style was unique and he definitely earned his “wild and crazy guy” persona. There were dozens of photographs and videos from that time, which seems remarkable because it was from a time before everyone had a camera in their pocket.
After 15 years of that, when he was on top of the world and had millions of fans, he stopped doing standup shows. Just stopped. He pivoted into the movies.
In the second part of the documentary, we see Steve as he is now, in his 70s. He talks about his movies and his collaborations with other comics, especially Martin Short.
The documentary shows how he and Martin Short work together. His current wife, Anne Stringfield was in a few scenes. The artist (Harry Bliss) who draws the cartoons Steve dreams up was there showing how they create the cartoons.
This documentary wasn’t about Steve Martin. It was Steve Martin. It was like a conversation with him, personal and open. He talked about his career struggles, his love for the banjo, his love of art, his magic tricks, his issues with his parents.
Whether you’re a fan or just want to look at the journey of a singular, remarkable man, I think you’ll enjoy this documentary in two pieces. You can see it on Apple TV+.