This Is the Tom Green Documentary (2025)

*Watch the film on Amazon Prime here*

This is a surprisingly straightforward documentary on the subversive comedian Tom Green, who seemed to be everywhere in the 1990s and early 2000s before receiving a cancer diagnosis that derailed his career.

Green was from Canada, born in 1971. He was into skateboard culture, formed a locally successful rap group, and then started getting involved in making comedy videos that would emulate the man-on-the-street comedy that David Letterman was doing on his show at the time. The videos and material took off, Green was brought to the States and replicated his cult cable access show on MTV, and he and his friends started to rise in the entertainment industry.

Green directs the film and interviews his parents, who were the targets of many famous bits on his show. They seemed genuinely upset and put out by their son's shenanigans, unlike what passes as "reality" entertainment today. They were not privy to what their son was doing for TV (repainting the house plaid, waking them at 3am to listen to Bon Jovi), but they don't seem very angry about it today. Green goes through his career with friends and co-on air personalities Phil Giroux and Glenn Humplik (Humplik is the greatest name in the history of talk show sidekicks), his assorted films, his marriage to star Drew Barrymore, and his eventual testicular cancer scare that still shakes him and his family. I remember his cancer special, and talking about this taboo subject to millions of fans his age, like myself. He gives behind-the-scenes looks at how much pain he was going through in those times, the surgeries, the show cancellation, and we realized that we weren't immortal or enduring in this age. He tried to kickstart his career here and there, realizing the potential that the internet held, and now he's on the comeback trail with this documentary, a reality series, a stand-up special, and more.

Watching the old clips from his television show, I was having major nostalgia for the turn of the century when anything possible was in my future. Green is three years younger than me, firmly planted in our Generation X, and I felt a connection to him. He is more thoughtful and humble now, he doesn't try any zany stunts on his older parents in the documentary (thank god) because he's not that same guy. The film is well cut between crazed video bits from the good old days, and nice interviews with his subjects today. It's fun to see clips from the show and wonder where these people are now after having a huge impact on popular culture back in the day- Craig Kilborn, Flavor Flav, Janeane Garofalo, Monica Lewinsky, Dennis Miller, etc.

As I fast approach my late fifties, and friends and family start leaving us at an alarming rate (in the past year, I've discovered two different college classmates passed away and I had no idea until well after the fact), it's comforting to see I'm not the only one who is taking a step back and reflecting on the future. Green keeps his eye on his eventful past, but is doing the work instead of becoming frozen-in-place creatively, rising above internet-age rage and tumult. This is a very good film.

Stats:
(2025) 97 min. (* * * *) out of five stars
-Directed by Tom Green
-Featuring Tom Green, Mary Jane Green, Richard Green, Glenn Humplik, Phil Giroux, Chris Mullington, Merilyn Read, Jackie Stearn, David Letterman, Drew Barrymore, Eric Andre, Joe Rogan, Monica Lewinsky
(Not Rated)- contains some physical violence, gore, profanity, strong adult situations