André Is an Idiot, 2025.
Directed by Tony Benna.
Featuring André Ricciardi, Janice Ricciardi, Tallula Ricciardi, Delilah Ricciardi, Lee Einhorn, Nick Ricciardi, Tommy Chong, Peter Carnochan, PhD., Ryan Lee, Jason Harris, Tommy Means, Stelio Kitrilakis and Waffles (the cat).
SYNOPSIS:
Andre, an irreverent man, embarks on an unexpected journey after receiving a terminal diagnosis, determined to maintain his humor while learning to die happily.
Cancer isn’t a joke, except when it is. In this documentary, directed by Tony Benna, we follow irreverent André Ricciardi as he dies from colon cancer. The film is deceptively simple – yes, he dies at the end – but André is a compelling subject due to his desire to always entertain others, including the film audience.
He also wants you to get your [bleeping] colonoscopy, because he didn’t and perhaps that would have saved him. An ad man with many passions, including trying all manner of drugs and alcohol to theorizing whether Kim Kardashian’s pleather pants may have enough DNA to clone her, André is the kind of person who is always cooking schemes and engaging in impromptu activities. Cancer only slows him a little bit, and then it kills him. However, before he dies, he is able to launch one last ad campaign featuring literal assholes that serve as reminders to get a much-vaunted medical procedure that Katie Couric showcased on morning television.
Reminded of 2014’s Dutch film Frailer, where an actor stops acting in a drama that was created for her to finally reveal that she has cancer, just like her character, and is dying, we can see first-hand the ravages that cancer wreaks on André’s body and mind. André states that he may not encourage others to do a navel-gazing documentary on dying with cancer since it might be a bit depressing and maudlin, but for him, it’s okay and besides he doesn’t care what you think anyway.
However, he does care what his family/friends think and feel even if he tries to play stoic. His wife, Janice, who originally met him through a green card wedding to avoid being deported to Canada(!), attempts to keep it together but is the primary caregiver and co-attendee to André’s medical appointments. André also has two daughters, Tallulah and Delilah, whose names are tattooed on his arm (even though he’s not the type to give hugs). The humour becomes a way to keep a façade going – because, as long as he can keep making jokes, everything is okay. As Janice asks, what do you do when everything is not okay?
You smoke a bong at 7 am, record your last words in advance, tell your family you love them, and find a way to pay for your “older brother’s” drinks in perpetuity after you’ve left this world.
As a note, in disability circles, ‘idiot’ is known as a slur, almost akin to the r-word which seems to be gaining popularity these days. I understand the spirit that the word is used in this film, as in a D’oh! moment of regret, but it is ill-timed at the moment. That being said, the title shouldn’t detract from a lovely film.
“We paint the portraits we want people to see, but the most beautiful portraits are the ones that show the flaws within us.” – André Ricciardi
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
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