Belushi

A number of fine documentaries have been based on books, but Belushi has a unique connection to author Tanner Colby’s Belushi: A Biography (2012): The film uses the audio from interviews conducted by Colby to build a movie narrated by many of the people John Belushi knew best.

The doc, now streaming on Showtime, traces the life of the comedian, actor, and singer from birth to death, with warm recollections of all his successes in between. The sources are friends, relatives, and co-workers, so don’t expect a probing or hard-hitting exploration of the performer’s dark side (if he had one). The drug use that killed him is treated as a tragic extension of his powerful life force, and if he ever treated anyone badly for more than an incidental moment, you won’t hear about it here.

The director is veteran filmmaker R.J. Cutler (American High), and he does a masterful job of matching the disembodied voices to hundreds of archival photos and vintage video. It’s great to see early footage of Belushi, pre-Saturday Night Live, and see how fully formed he was at an early age. On the other hand, Cutler’s research is so comprehensive that you might wish he could pause for some longer samples of Belushi’s best work — most of the clips are snippets that will evoke memories of Belushi’s work for those already familiar but are too short to win over anyone not already a fan.

When the end comes — Belushi’s death by overdose at age 33 in a sordid scene at Hollywood’s famous Chateau Marmont hotel — the documentary offers his pals’ reactions to the news, but omits any details. Belushi isn’t quite hagiography, since the subject’s flaws are hard to avoid, but it is the Belushi that those closest to him prefer to remember.

Grade: B. Not rated but PG equivalent. Debuts Nov. 22 on Showtime

(Photo by Richard McCaffrey, courtesy of Showtime)