Fans of Steve Martin? Here’s the trailer for STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces – and you’re going to watch to see it.
What a joy of a title that is to type out: STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces, with insistence on lower case for certain parts, and block caps for the other. Lovely.
Anyway, to the point. STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces is – surprisingly – a major, comprehensive documentary about a man who tends as a rule to keep himself under wraps. That’d be – guess! – Steve Martin, hands on the table one on my favourite ever actors, performers and writers, and I’ve definitely not seen the finished documentary.
Well, two-part documentary. For this is an intriguing beast: two 90 minute films, made by the same director (Oscar-winner Morgan Neville), made around the same time, but edited and compiled by different teams.
Part one follows Steve Martin’s stand-up camera, his rise to fame, and his decision to walk away from stand-up at a point where he could sell tens of thousands of tickets to a single gig. He’s just about to dabble in movies as the film ends, and part two then sees him in the present day, reflecting on what happened next.
STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces (in truth, I’m copying and pasting that line by this point) is an Apple TV+ documentary, with Steve Martin fully involved and contributing. He’s not the only one, too, and it’s a really comprehensive film – scrub that, pair of films – that’s been put together.
Here’s the trailer for it…
And the official synopsis…
Steve Martin is one of the most beloved and enigmatic figures in entertainment. “STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces” dives into his extraordinary story from two distinct points of view, with companion documentaries that feature never-before-seen footage and raw insights into Steve’s personal and professional trials and triumphs. “Then” chronicles Steve Martin’s early struggles and meteoric rise to revolutionize standup before walking away at 35. “Now” focuses on the present day, with Steve Martin in the golden years of his career, retracing the transformation that led to happiness in his art and personal life.
STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces will debut on Apple TV+ on 29th March 2024. We’ll be talking about it in the next issue of Film Stories magazine too…
