Sorry / Not Sorry Review

Summary

• The documentary challenges us to question whether we should “cancel” those who have done wrong.
• Louis C.K.’s quick return to the spotlight raises concerns about accountability in our society.
• Sorry / Not Sorry
  dives deep into the complex issues of sex, power, and second chances in the entertainment industry but never digs deep enough to truly address the questions it poses.

It’s hard to deny a certain level of surrealism that occurs while watching Sorry / Not Sorry, the revealing documentary about the sexual misconduct of beleaguered comedian Louis C.K. (Louie) through the years. The New York Times-produced doc shows us a prominent white male who has been called to task about his inappropriate behavior. At the end of the day, that doesn’t seem to matter much, as the so-called “canceled” C.K. quickly returns to bask in the spotlight and be adored by his followers.

Like Donald Trump before him, it appears Louis C.K. can do no wrong even when wrong has been done. Other questions arise while viewing the doc, mostly: “Should we really ‘cancel’ those who have done wrong? And can we separate them from their ‘art?’” Well, people have been put in jail for lesser injustices. If that’s not canceling somebody, what is? These days, we’re even led to believe that convicted felons on the world stage won’t be punished, even though they’ve done the unfathomable. So, what does all this say about the country or the world in which we live? What does it say about us?

No doubt, waxing philosophical — perhaps not too much — was one of the intentions of this documentary, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last fall. But in watching Sorry/Not Sorry, it’s hard to deny the astounding existential malaise that has embedded itself into our current culture. Maybe we can all get away with anything and never be held accountable?

By all accounts, directors Caroline Suh and Cara Mones offer something illuminating here, even though the documentary never fully sizzles the way you might want it to. Perhaps because its main focal point, Louis C.K., emerges slightly bruised emotionally but is still given a torch to carry. Wink, wink, chuckle. Still, kudos to the filmmakers for delivering a compelling outing told with candor, humor, and just enough depth to keep your eyes fully glued to its unfolding.

Reporters Unearth a Beastly Tale

Sorry / Not Sorry (2024)

3.5/5

Sorry / Not Sorry charts how an open secret about comedian Louis C.K.’s sexual misconduct evolved into a front page article on The New York Times. Following the story’s publication, Louis C.K. admitted “these stories are true” and faced initial repercussions, only to return to the stage nine months later. While the story of C.K.’s rise and fall largely played out in public, this film reveals the stories of three women who spoke out over the years about C.K.’s behavior.

Release Date July 12, 2024

Director Caroline Suh & Cara Mones

Cast Louis C.K. , Jen Kirkman , Abby Schachner , Megan Koester , Michael Ian Black , Michael Schur , Aida Rodriguez , Andy Kindler

Runtime 1h 30m

Studio(s) The New York Times

Distributor(s) Greenwich Entertainment

Pros

• There are some excellent (and funny) talking head interviews throughout.
• The film becomes more and more haunting as difficult questions build surrounding cancel culture.

Cons

• The documentary doesn’t add too much more information than we already knew, or go much beyond Louis C.K.

Expand

Sorry / Not Sorry is based on the 2017 reporting by Melena Ryzik, Cara Buckley, and Jodi Kantor, who all serve as consulting producers on the film. Kathleen Lingo produced for The New York Times. Divided into several easily digestible parts, the filmmakers bring in a bevy of talking heads, from comedians like Jen Kirkman and Andy Kindler to TV critics like Alison Herman and Wesley Morris, and even the owner of the Comedy Cellar, Noam Dworman. (Is it just us, or has Hollywood given Michael Ian Black full reign to comment on everything about the entertainment world?)

This tale re-examines Louis C.K.’s behavior and his unprecedented comeback with the stand-up special, Sorry. All this comes alongside testimonies of several women who spoke out about the comic’s sexual misconduct — masturbating in front of women. The doc asks viewers to question whose stories and whose art we value, and at what cost.

Related: 8 Actors Who Came Back From Being “Canceled”

To be sure, many people have come to revere Louis C.K. His FX show, Louie, was brilliant. His creative involvement with Better Things gave us Pamela Adlon at her finest. He co-created Baskets, one of the most original shows of the 2010s, and his stand-up specials were ingenious. Several years ago, when reports of sexual misconduct emerged, it hit the front page of The New York Times. Afterward, Louis C.K. admitted “these stories are true” and faced initial repercussions. He flew under the radar for a spell (and flew to France as well), and returned to the stage nine months later.

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The People Who Ask the Hard Questions

A trifecta arises in this setting as we learn more about these nuanced and complicated experiences from comics Jen Kirkman, Abby Schachner, and Megan Koester, who offer new details about their encounters with Louis C.K. As such, they inevitably share the personal and professional consequences they faced for speaking out about it. Their voices give the documentary a sense of direction and a way to wrap other things around, mostly insights from other people who toss in their two cents.

Look for interviews with the reporters who originally broke the story, too. That’s Ryzik, Buckley, and Kantor, whose deep connection to the subject matter and what they unearthed is suddenly all the more captivating. Then there’s feedback from comedians, gatekeepers and critics. Eventually, a big question reveals itself: Who is afforded a second chance, and who is overlooked in the process? The comics who spoke up fall into that latter category.

True, this doc illuminates issues of sex and power in the workplace, who gets to take the stage, and the role we ourselves, as consumers of entertainment, play in these scenarios. But it doesn’t give us much more than we’ve already been spoon-fed en masse since the #MeToo Movement took flight.

Related Review: Louis C.K. New Stand Up Special Sorry

Louis C.K. continues to shock and offend years after his scandal, this time in funnier and more interesting ways than he has in years.

A Documentary with Possibly Unanswerable Questions

There’s a bit of eeriness, too, watching fallen Today show host Matt Lauer interview Jon Stewart, raising questions about the allegations against Louis C.K. Remember Lauer? He was fired by NBC News in late 2017, after numerous reports of inappropriate sexual behavior arose. Canceled, the former host is mostly out of public view. The doc never gets into that (or the disgraced Charlie Rose, seen interviewing C.K. in the doc), of course, but Lauer’s presence here gives us a glimpse at all the things that have been revealed in just the span of eight years — from the Bill Cosby debacle to what we now see with career liar Donald Trump.

Don’t worry much if the doc doesn’t fully provide all the answers we might think we need to have. Are there any? Really? Maybe there’s no understanding it. It’s complicated. It’s real. It’s a mess out there. But this endeavor does more than hint that we do have control over where we direct our dollars and our remote control. Bottom line: Tune in, sit back, absorb it all. You’ll walk away shaking your head, but there’s something about how the filmmakers just lay everything out to at least see and observe that is, oddly enough, inviting and refreshing. Sorry / Not Sorry will be in theaters and everywhere you rent movies July 12.

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