Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces Review

Steve! (Martin) A Documentary In 2 Pieces gives us the two men Steve Martin has always been – and shows us the way they’re one and the same.

It seems fitting, then, that Martin would be a subject of interest for Neville, given that Steve is as recognizable as any celebrity of the last 50 years, yet as personally unknown as one with his level of fame can be.

We quickly learn that this paradoxical approach to his status was forged in his early years: early on we learn that Steve the performer–happy, goofy, funny, and over-the-top–remained quite private when it came to his own internal motivations and emotions. Neville begins to expose this tension in Part I, but only slightly; his work initially feels more like a visual Wikipedia page than an insightful investigation of Steve, the man. This partially has to do with method: he uses a traditional, documentary style presentation of old photos layered over clever quips and interviews that ultimately feel robotic, if not derivative, at times. While Neville’s interviews begin to wade into some personal depths (exploring, for instance, the way that Steve’s relationship with his relatively cold and unempathetic father), he often quickly deviates from these themes back to simply “playing the hits,” so to speak. 

The result is that Part I works more as career retrospective than revelatory exposé. We are reminded of his philosophically unique approach to comedy designed to keep the audience guessing with no obvious places for punch lines; we follow his exaggerated physical presence through his most famous bits, like King Tut, a wild and crazy guy, and his patented arrow through the head. Indeed, all the things that have caused the audience to say, “I know Steve Martin” are present and accounted for. Yet it becomes increasingly clear that, for as much as we know the performer, the truth of the man remains unrevealed, his underlying beliefs, dreams, and hopes tucked tightly beneath those patented white suits and wild accents.

It’s in Part II where Neville’s work truly hits its stride, and where his directorial decisions deliver on showing the deeper, hidden parts of Martin’s personality and story. Rather than repeating the simple documentary style of Part I, the film takes on a more free-flowing, relational exploration of the man himself through extensive interviews and behind-the-scenes glimpses into his family and creative life. Conversations with friends like Jerry Seinfeld, Tina Fey, and Steve’s own creative muse, Martin Short, are interspersed wisely with glimpses into the private life of the man himself through stories of his late-in-life family, tedious routines and rhythms, and continued writing. 

This is where the empathetic storytelling instincts of Neville finally shine through the most, humanizing what Part I had built up as a larger than life star. The contrast of images is noticeable: the bright lights and crowds and microphones of Part I are replaced by a simple domestic life and quiet and uninterrupted explorations of his home and friendships. The herky-jerky showman is replaced by the slower, reflective dad, more emotionally thoughtful than aspirationally performative. One particular scene is telling in this regard, and is certainly the sticking point of the film as a whole: we follow Steve as he sifts through the screenplays of works years prior, tearfully recalling the details and people involved in films like Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and The Jerk with an affection and warmth largely undisplayed prior. 

At once deeply personal and obviously unscripted, this is the moment where we start to really know Steve. As it turns out, he always was the performer: since those earliest years, the way he worked out and expressed his identity, his purpose, and his genuine love for people was always in and through entertainment. It is only when we can glimpse him looking back on such things, recalling the energy and passion with which he had worked, that we see it. Perhaps, rather than being a shield dividing him from us, the stage and screen have always been the way he has become human, in front of us, for years. Perhaps it is precisely the pursuit of his work that enabled him to tell us who he always was. Perhaps we all really know him, and always have.

Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces is now available to stream on Apple TV+.

Loud and Clear Reviews has an affiliate partnership with Apple, so we receive a share of the revenue from your purchase or streaming of the films when you click on the button on this page. This won’t affect how much you pay for them and helps us keep the site free for everyone.