I love "The King Of Comedy". This was in a run of Scorsese/De Niro collaborations where they could do no wrong. It's an effective portrayal of the delusions of a fantasist , with enough reality ,rooted in the overhyped U.S talk-show scene to grab any pop-culture fiend. It hasnt aged too much yet either,as all the elements of the still precient "The Larry Sanders Show" are there.. and the real-life format is still almost the same with Leno ,Conan and Letterman. The Daily Show puts the most contempory twist on things. British counterpart Jonathon Ross has only really got the more liberal attitude to sexual innuendo and swearing in the U.K. to account for any real variance. These guys remain the highest paid and most famous T.V. stars.
Kidnapping one of them would be a big deal and logical for a psychotic stand-up trying to get his foot in the door....what i'm just trying to say is that it's not too dated,jerry Lewis is great,at being almost "himself" Sandra Bernhardt is nuttiness personified, De Niro is so subsumed by the character as to be almost absent. The Marty cameo, as the floor manager is great.. The Clash appear , in the street as Rupert and Masha argue.. it's all good.