10 Best Carl Reiner Films

Comedians should not write about comedy. That seems to be the maxim, as attempts have led to bloated, self-indulgent messes such as Judd Apatow's later work and the notoriously bad Tom Hanks/Sally Field vehicle Punchline.

It's an old cliche that stand up comics' lives are usually morose or at least dipped in tragedy, so delving into their darker side for anything but comedy is rarely a success.

Reiner, though, is a kind of an exception to the rule. The worst hardship, careerwise, was that CBS wanted Dick Van Dyke to star in his proposed pilot rather than himself.

After that show's success, Reiner and Van Dyke reteamed for this dramedy inspired by the life of Buster Keaton. The film also directly parallels the life of one of its co-stars: Mickey Rooney.

Van Dyke has always been a great physical comic, and he certainly puts it to use here, patterning his routine after Stan Laurel.

It's maudlin, to be sure, but Van Dyke is particularly good. Years later, Van Dyke learned that Laurel had seen his performance and made no legal attempt to prevent it, making the longtime Laurel and Hardy fan proud. Unfortunately, it's one of Reiner's films still hard to acquire.