George Carlin: Fearless Truth-Teller or Grouchy Old Hippie?

George Carlin cycled through about five comic personas in his nearly 50 years as a standup, but only three of them matter. He was Lenny Bruce, he was Jerry Seinfeld, and he was, at his most unfortunate stage, Bernie Sanders. Guess which one of these styles today’s commentariat would have you believe is the one we should be talking about?

George Carlin’s American Dream is a mostly excellent but occasionally stridently left-wing HBO documentary directed by Michael Bonfiglio and Judd Apatow that features lots of fright-montages about racism, police brutality, and the necessity of a right to abortion, backed by Standard Hollywood Doom Soundtrack Number Four. Carlin, we’re repeatedly told, is speaking to us right now. No. His best stuff was timeless.

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Kyle Smith

Kyle Smith is the film critic for the Wall Street Journal.

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George Carlin cycled through about five comic personas in his nearly 50 years as a standup, but only three of them matter. He was Lenny Bruce, he was Jerry Seinfeld, and he was, at his most unfortunate stage, Bernie Sanders. Guess which one of these styles today’s commentariat would have you believe is the one we should be talking about?

George Carlin’s American Dream is a mostly excellent but occasionally stridently left-wing HBO documentary directed by Michael Bonfiglio and Judd Apatow that features lots of fright-montages about racism, police brutality, and the necessity of a right to abortion, backed by Standard Hollywood Doom Soundtrack Number Four. Carlin, we’re repeatedly told, is speaking to us right now. No. His best stuff was timeless.