Steve! (Martin) Doc in 2 Pieces-Too Much to Matter

If I were to name two comedians who comprised the laugh track for my college years it would be Steve Martin and John Belushi. Interestingly, Martin thought (and was correct) what he was doing was groundbreaking and unique until he noted Belushi and the cast of SNL.  Martin realized they were also committed to the insane zaniness that inspired millions to wear balloon hats on their heads and arrows through them.  The biopic documentary now screening on Apple TV is a detailed anthology of Martin's life, from childhood, through a rambunctious route to connecting with an audience, and his miraculous meteoric rise to the pinnacle of comedic success. The devil is in the details and the unraveling of Martin's sophomoric sojourn is sorely overrun causing the laughs to fall flat and his zeitgeist humor to feel humdrum. In large part, Martin's puerile silliness was a backlash to the anguish of the late 60s/early 70s with a need and willingness to feel more at ease. I was one of the adoring fans at my college coliseum who saw him. I laughed until my sides hurt.  I'm sure the brownies that were passed enhanced my feeling of  euphoria.  Saturday nights the largest lecture hall on campus screened SNL. We'd gather to decompress from the stress of studies and let off steam amid a fugue of funky haze. Those were wild and crazy days; thanks for the memories.  This biopic is very stylized, and finely produced with personal letters, interviews and archival footage. The minutiae of memorabilia contains moments of laughter, but this film doesn't succeed as an entertaining roller-coaster of laughs.  Yet, it does maintain  a serious dissection of a driven entertainer in search of himself, his audience and what his aims are for achieving success.  However, it does provide an appreciation for Martin's acquired trials and tribulations. And, there's much material to be gleaned for aspiring comics or performers venturing on their course to stardom.  Nonetheless, there's also the devil's curse, boredom.