From Sundance: ‘André is an Idiot’ is Brilliant

From the start, “André is an Idiot” hooks its audience with a love story for the ages: Guy meets girl at bar, girl needs green card marriage, guy accepts, and, before long, guy and girl actually fall in love. In this documentary, guy and girl are André and Janice, who developed deep feelings for each other after getting a green card marriage, jokingly competing on the game show “The Newlywed Game,” and — to their surprise — winning. If this sounds like a lot, well, it’s only one small part of an utterly fascinating documentary detailing the waning life of an utterly fascinating man.

Waning, that is, because he refused to get a colonoscopy at age 45. Then again at age 50. Colon cancer is among the most identifiable and treatable cancers, but André was an idiot and scheduled a colonoscopy too late — once the cancer had already metastasized in his liver. Thus, “André is an Idiot” is at once a PSA and biography; the documentary, like its subject, is irreverent, tragic, and gripping.

But what might be most striking about André and “André is an Idiot” is their self-awareness. André, a provocative advertising exec, initiated the production of this documentary himself. At one point, he even mentions that he would never make something like this for someone else because it requires a level of openness he couldn’t reasonably expect out of anyone but himself.

In interviews spanning his cancer treatment and physical decline, André leaves no stone unturned, talking about subjects ranging from alcoholism, drugs, and masturbation to Kim Kardashian, the apocalypse, and cryonics. The film also sheds light on his relationships with his family and friends — all of whom deal with André’s quirks differently, especially in the face of his stage four cancer diagnosis.

André’s romance, bromance, and father-daughter bonds are strained as his cancer worsens. Navigating shifting perceptions of himself, he turns to humor to confront his colon cancer, which lends itself particularly well to potty and butt jokes. The documentary even cuts to stop-motion animations that bring to life some of his more crude retellings, ramblings, and “what if” scenarios. While a colonoscopy is tough to convey in live action, animation does the job comically and effectively.

Does some of “André is an Idiot” feel staged? Do André’s daughters and therapist look uncomfortable in front of the camera? Is it more than just luck that André’s spontaneous road trip turns out to be highly cinematic? Yes, yes, and probably yes. But this “phoniness” is also an essential part of what makes André André. He values himself on his ability to make people laugh, so it’s not surprising that he feels most at home in this artificial medium. Cancer is undoubtedly his biggest issue, but so is his inability to wade into tragedy and forgo deflective comedy.

When he isn’t able to convince his father to appear in the documentary, André brings in a surprise actor to play the role. Described by Janice as the “opposite” of André’s real-life father, this actor very much embodies André’s rebellious temperament in relation to his father. This kind of creative problem-solving and storytelling are everywhere in “André is an Idiot” — constantly in conversation with its documentarian approach.

André can only hide behind this comic, self-aware, at-a-distance mask for so long — until his hair falls out, his face loses color, and his weight noticeably drops. What starts as a darkly funny premise about André being an idiot turns into a heartfelt shrine to a deeply complex and endearing individual.

At one point in the film, André consults an expert on “death yells” — “the last thing people hear before you die,” according to the concept’s official website. As is his wont, André half-jokes that having meaningful final words could help to prolong his legacy. However, he went a few steps further and created a thought-provoking documentary, ensuring a long and meaningful life beyond his literal own.

—Staff writer Joseph A. Johnson can be reached at joseph.johnson@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @onlyjoejohnson.