In theory, a documentary about a comedian would be about comedy. While Are We Good?, a new documentary about comedian and podcaster Marc Maron, does explore his relationship with comedy, Maron also opens up about his experience with grief and mortality. Are We Good? checks all the usual documentary boxes, featuring talking head interviews with celebrities and plenty of archival footage, while also offering a quiet glimpse into one man’s journey with grief.
The film is framed around Maron preparing a new stand-up set that eventually became his HBO comedy special From Bleak to Dark. As we see Maron begin to workshop his jokes, we also hear directly from him, his friends, and colleagues, not only about him as a person but also about how he’s dealt with the pandemic and the death of his partner and TV and movie director Lynn Shelton, who died in 2020 of a previously undiagnosed blood disorder.
Stand-up is a comedy muscle that Maron hadn’t been using. With the success of his podcast, WTF with Marc Maron, he’d stepped away from stand-up, instead interviewing comedians and celebrities from his tiny garage studio. The film aptly chronicles his career history narrated by the comedian himself, whizzing through HBO specials as quickly as his previous addiction issues. It’s clear that director Steven Feinartz and Maron are a team in this documentary, with the two quipping back and forth on camera as Feinartz tries to ask probing questions to an annoyed Maron.
The real heart of the film isn’t the comedy, it’s Maron taking an introspective look at his past, present, and future within the framework of his grief. His signature cynicism is still there, but with an ironic smirk to it that betrays how much he cherishes the good and bad parts of life. Feinartz keeps his filmmaking relatively spare, instead letting Maron lead the film through voice-overs and clips from his podcast. It gives the film an incredibly intimate and casual feeling, placing the audience as insiders.
The intimacy of Are We Good? also means that the documentary never quite reaches excellence. It relies on the audience already being aware of Marc Maron and his style of comedy and feels like it was made for his existing fans rather than a wider audience.
As much as it feels like a behind-the-scenes companion to 2023’s From Bleak to Dark, Are We Good? chronicles Marc Maron’s relatable struggle with grief and isolation in a continually chaotic post-pandemic world. Scaffolded by the comedy world, it manages to carry a hopeful message that will resonate with many and perhaps gain Marc Maron some new fans.
