Andrew Dice Clay’s tough manner works best when he lets some hurt show through. We rate the sympathetic supporting actor of Blue Jasmine; the old reliance on provocation is a less interesting use of his presence.
Fi1m perspective
In Blue Jasmine (2013), Andrew Dice Clay’s Augie seems hurt without making a display of his suffering. The tough manner remains, and the vulnerability is convincing because Clay does not overplay it. We were moved by him because he makes that hurt feel like something a person has to live with, rather than something staged for our benefit. Augie is one of the reasons this drama gives us people to care about beyond its lead.
That is some distance from the Diceman, the deliberately offensive Brooklyn tough-guy caricature he developed in stand-up. Clay has kept the thick Brooklyn accent in his dramatic work. The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990) was a star vehicle marking his attempt to become a leading man, before a long spell of lower-profile work. The weakness of a persona dependent on shock is that it can become predictable: each new offence has to compensate for how little else changes.
A recurring part as a version of himself in Entourage (2011) helped bring him back into view. Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine then demonstrated what else he could do in a dramatic supporting role. Allen’s plotting can feel too tidy, but the supporting cast makes the damage feel real. Sally Hawkins gives Ginger warmth and self-respect; Clay brings the same respect for Augie, allowing his unhappiness to matter on its own. Neither needs to compete with Cate Blanchett to make an impression.
In Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born (2018), he plays Lorenzo Campana, a sympathetic father role that continues the move into drama. Our enthusiasm for the film rests chiefly with Cooper and Lady Gaga, whose attraction and singing make the romance convincing. Clay’s comic timing is useful in this kind of ensemble, where he need not carry the whole film. The second half gives her rise to fame too little room, a problem that good casting cannot solve. Start with Blue Jasmine if the stage persona has put you off.
Biography
Andrew Dice Clay, born Andrew Clay Silverstein on 29 September 1957 in Brooklyn, New York, is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s with his brash stage persona known as "The Diceman".
In 1990 he became the first stand-up comedian to sell out Madison Square Garden for two consecutive nights. That year he also starred in the film The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. Clay has appeared in supporting roles in films including Blue Jasmine (2013) and A Star Is Born (2018), for which he received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination as part of the ensemble cast. He has also featured in television series such as Entourage and his own Showtime series Dice.
