Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop Blu-ray Movie Review

The Passion of the Coco

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater September 23, 2011

On June 1, 2009, former Late Night chatterbox Conan O’Brien—the 6’4” Irish-American with skin like Ivory soap and a pompadour the color of a fox pelt—replaced Jay Leno as the host of The Tonight Show. But just seven months later, after a very public dispute with NBC execs—who wanted to push the show back to 12:05 in order to give an unwilling-to-retire Leno another place in the prime-time spotlight—Conan was basically paid to leave the network, with a departure deal worth 45 million big ones. I’ll concede that it’s hard to feel too sorry for Conan after such a severance pay windfall, but setting the money aside, he really did get the raw end of an ugly-all-over deal. The chin-wagging Leno took over the show once again as if nothing had happened, and Conan was set adrift in the show-biz doldrums, with contractual stipulations barring him from appearing on TV or the radio for six months. Unwilling to sit still for half a year, and partially to help him get over his lingering resentment, Conan came up with the “Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour,” with plans to do 42 live comedy shows in 30 cities over three months, bringing along his sidekick Andy Richter and most of his Tonight Show backing band. He also allowed director Rodman Flender to document the entire experience, and the result is Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop, a funny and—suprisingly—not-always-flattering portrait of a driven comedian who can hardly slow down, let alone stop.

After a prologue that gives a brief rundown of the Leno/NBC debacle, the film picks up shortly after O’Brien’s early exodus from The Tonight Show, a time when he was justifiably bitter. “Sometimes I’m so mad I can’t even breathe,” he says, but instead of internalizing it and stewing at home in Los Angeles, he funnels that anger into the general idea for the traveling comedy tour, which is announced via Twitter even before Conan has any conception of what specifically the show will entail. Most of the dates sell out online within two hours of being posted, which puts immediate pressure on O’Brien and his team of writers/collaborators to come up with something worthy of paying to see.

Eventually, the tour morphs into a kind of stand-up/vaudeville/musical mash-up, incorporating bits from Conan’s previous late night shows under different names—to avoid harassment from NBC’s legal department. The infamous Masturbating Bear, for instance, becomes the “Self-Pleasuring Panda,” and the Walker, Texas Ranger Lever—which, when pulled, plays ridiculous clips of Walker doling out martial arts justice—is rechristened “The Chuck Norris Rural Policeman Handle.” After the first show, in Eugene, Oregon, Conan seems a bit bummed. “I don’t feel that euphoria,” he says. He’s glad the tour has finally kicked off, but he’s keenly aware that improvements need to be made to make it funnier.

I should explain that Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop isn’t a concert film, if that’s what you were expecting. In fact, very little material from the “Legally Prohibited” tour actually makes it into the documentary. We do see Coco, as his fans call him, performing a bit about the eight stages of grief, and catch clips from a few musical parody numbers he performs with the band, including a riff on Willy Nelson’s “On the Road Again” called “My Own Show Again.” There are also excerpts from a secret gig at Jack White’s Nashville recording studio, and a Seattle show where grunge wizard Eddie Veder makes a surprise appearance.

Most of the film, though, takes place backstage or, yes, on the road, as Conan and his crew hustle from one city to the next. It’s a near-endless procession of green rooms, tour buses, and airplane cabins, sponsor meet-and-greets, autograph signings, and enthusiastic but sometimes demanding fans. Can’t Stop shows us the other sides of Conan: The show-biz tyrant who’s hard on his writing team and who picks affectionately on his personal assistant. The eager-to-please icon who has trouble refusing his legion of followers. The lonely vaudvillian, far from his wife and kids, applying his own make-up. The nitpicker who sends back his grilled salmon because the restaurant put butter on it when he specifically asked for none. The comedic ego who, in his own estimation, is either “a genius” or “the biggest dick in the world.” Conan is a complicated personality, self-effacing one moment and teasingly confrontational the next. Wherever he is, he’s the star around which everyone else orbits.

The film paints Conan as having a love/hate relationship with the life of a public performer. On the one hand, he clearly lives for the thrill of being in front of an audience. He’s fueled by applause and cheering, but he metabolizes it too quickly. It’s never enough. Even on one of the tour’s few days off, he makes time to perform at his 25-year reunion talent show at Harvard, where he spent his undergrad years. As much as he thrives under the bright stage lights, he withers quickly back in the real world, where he’s forced to entertain celebrity guests before the show, grin and shake hands with a non-stop throng of people who want to meet him, and pose for photograph after photograph. It’s tiring. He worries about losing his voice. At the same time, he says, with a mixture of pride and self-annoyance, “I never deny anyone anything.” By the end of the tour, he comes to the conclusion that “this is the most satisfying thing I’ve ever done in show business…but, you can see the sickness of it too.” And we’ve come to some conflicting conclusions of our own. Namely, that Conan’s unstoppable drive for success makes him a bit of an ass behind the scenes, but it’s also the source of his particular genius.

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I'll be honest; Conan O'Brien Can't Stop won't be among the best-looking Blu-rays you'll see this year, simply by its very nature. The documentary was shot with what I'm assuming, from the quality of the footage, to be lightweight, consumer-grade high definition digital video cameras. The image is sometimes exceptionally noisy—blue-tinted chroma noise is especially apparent in many scenes—and this obviously takes a hit on clarity. High definition detail is definitely visible in the image—that is, it inherently looks better than standard def—but the picture is often both soft and chunky. Color reproduction is also what you'd expect from this low-budget medium—mostly realistic, but with a limited dynamic range. Highlights are frequently blown out, especially under the bright stage lights, and depending on the situation, hues can either look wishy-washy or overly saturated. Along with the rampant noise, you'll notice a few occasional compression/encode issues, like mild color banding and aliasing. The thing is, it is what it is, so there's really no use complaining about it. The best I can say is that I was never overtly distracted by any of the 1080p/AVC encode's shortcomings. If you can accept the limitations of the source material, you'll be fine.

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The film's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is similarly limited by its source, but the producers of this disc have nonetheless managed to take the on-location audio and mix it into a fairly lively presentation. The clips from the tour performances stand out for having the music spread throughout all channels, with a decent degree of clarity and punch. Otherwise, the rear speakers don't get much action; after all, we're mostly dealing with behind-the- scenes conversations, and the dialogue stays rooted firmly up front. Voices are generally clear and acceptably clean, but on the few instances when it's difficult to make out what's being said, automatic subtitles pop up to assist. The disc also includes optional English SDH and Spanish subs.

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary: Featuring director Rodman Flender, Conan O'Brien, Andy Richter, Mike Sweeney and Sona Movsesian, this commentary track is every bit as lively—and hilarious—as you'd expect.
• Additional Scenes (1080p, 42:02): There's nearly a second documentary's worth of extra performance and down-time footage here, well worth checking out.
• Interview with Conan O'Brien (1080p, 14:26): Conan sits down for a one-on-one to discuss what happened with NBC and how he got over it by embarking on the tour.
• Interview Out-takes (1080p, 3:30): A few unused segments from the interview.
• Also From Magnolia Home Entertainment Blu-ray (1080p, 7:24)

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop is a fascinating portrait of a man who deals with his disappointment by driving himself—and those around him—even harder. It's also a rare glimpse behind the iron show-biz curtain, letting us see what one of TV's most recognizable figures is like in "real" life. Or, as real as it gets for Conan, anyway. Team Coco fans will definitely want to give this one a go, but don't be surprised if it slightly alters your opinion of the "Ginga Ninja." The film looks a bit rough—by nature—on Blu-ray, but this is probably still the best way to watch it. Recommended!