LENNY (CRITERION) (4K UHD+BLU-RAY)

Director Bob Fosse’s nervy, freewheeling showbiz drama tells the real-life story of taboo-shattering comedian Lenny Bruce, the counterculture prophet whose unfiltered style opened up new frontiers in self-expression. Dustin Hoffman brings a live-wire intensity to his portrayal of the motormouthed Bruce as he goes from small-time strip-club emcee to free-speech lightning rod, while Valerie Perrine lends the film its soul with her deeply affecting performance as his wife, Honey, an innocent lost on the dark side of bohemia. A complex portrayal of one iconoclast by another, Fosse’s film makes deft use of stark monochrome photography and kinetic editing to vividly capture Bruce’s smoky, seedy backstage world.

New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack

One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features

Audio commentary from 2015 featuring film historians Nick Redman and Julie Kirgo

Archival interview with actors Dustin Hoffman and Valerie Perrine

Interview with editor Alan Heim

Trailer

English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

PLUS: An essay by critic Mark Harris and a 1975 interview with director Bob Fosse

Cover based on an original theatrical poster