‘Are We Good?’ overview: Marc Maron exhibits vulnerability in doc profile

Followers of the seminal, long-running podcast “WTF With Marc Maron” — and I rely myself amongst them — have been handled to 1000’s of deep-dive interviews with a starry array of actors, musicians, comics and even some politicians (Barack Obama was a visitor in 2015). It’s additionally been an intimate window into the conflicted interior lifetime of the present’s eponymous host. Maron has seemingly pulled few if any punches in his podcast’s opening monologues as he’s held forth on all the things from his fraught emotional state and his two-decade battle with drug and alcohol dependancy (he’s been sober since 1999) to the premature 2020 loss of life of his romantic associate, the well-regarded indie filmmaker Lynn Shelton (“Humpday,” “Your Sister’s Sister”).

A lot of this private territory and extra is revisited within the absorbing, fly-on-the-wall-style documentary “Are We Good?” (named after Maron’s “WTF” sign-off phrase), produced and directed by Steven Feinartz.

Feinartz, who additionally directed Maron’s final two HBO stand-up specials, started filming his topic in 2021. He trailed Maron as he carried out in comedy golf equipment from Los Angeles to Montreal, recorded his podcast from the storage studio of his Glendale house, visited along with his aged father and, most pivotally, labored by the soul-crushing lack of Shelton. That loss turns into the driving pressure of the doc, with Maron’s grief informing his day by day life and thought course of, whereas additionally offering cathartic, darkly humorous fodder for his stand-up gigs.

It’s a tough balancing act that Feinartz depicts with candor, grace and persistence, by no means letting the movie’s provocative pathos flip overly grim or sentimental. A stand-up bit through which Maron recollects his ghoulish urge to snap a hospital selfie after bidding goodbye to the deceased Shelton (don’t fear, he determined towards it) supplies a gulp-worthy instance of the comedian’s brazen but reflective strategy to the world round him.

That Shelton died at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic made for an moreover merciless and tough time for Maron, who was unable to share his ache with many others as social distancing took over. He ultimately discovered the humorous in that conundrum as properly, incorporating the reminiscence into his routine with satiric glee.

Anybody aware of Maron’s grumpy, F-bomb-tossing persona will seemingly savor these 90 or so minutes in his swirlingly neurotic firm. He unabashedly leans into that vibe right here, even whereas wrangling his pair of self-possessed cats. Whereas Maron typically kvetches about Feinartz’s hovering cameras, he appears to have given him a type of all-access cross to his day by day life in a approach that belies his trademark crankiness. He could also be a reluctant showman, however he’s a showman nonetheless.

The uninitiated, nonetheless, would possibly discover Maron considerably much less participating. He readily self-identifies as “egocentric, anxious and panicky” and for some, slightly of that will go a good distance. Nonetheless, it’s not exhausting to narrate to his many cogent musings (“How do you’re keen on any individual else when you actually can’t love your self?”) in addition to to respect he clearly had for Shelton, who’s seen right here in an array of luminous, heartbreaking clips.

Different comedian skills reminiscent of Nate Bargatze, David Cross, Caroline Rhea, Michaela Watkins and John Mulaney additionally weigh in, bringing a mixture of the honest and the droll to their frank and pleasant observations about Maron. On his podcasts and elsewhere, Maron has spoken at size about rising up with narcissistic, emotionally indifferent mother and father and the way that dynamic seemingly laid the groundwork for his problematic sense of self. Though that’s not mentioned in nice element right here, the scenes between Maron and his dad, Barry, now in his mid-80s and dwelling with dementia, have a refined poignance that exhibits a kinder, extra accepting aspect of the comic than maybe even he may need anticipated.

In the meantime, a bit extra might have been made from Maron’s appearing work, a sideline that’s gained momentum during the last decade or so with worthy roles on TV’s “Glow” and “Stick,” and in movies together with “Joker” and the upcoming “Springsteen: Ship Me From Nowhere.” Maron’s oft-stated uncertainty about his appearing capacity and the push-pull he has admitted to feeling may need dovetailed properly along with his different qualms.

That stated, the profile, which options vivid archival and private footage and photographs of Maron all through the years, is not at all complete, nor does it attempt to be. At coronary heart, it’s a couple of susceptible man at a singular second in time and the way his previous has ready him — or maybe not. And we’re undoubtedly good for experiencing this singular artist up shut.