Norm Macdonald was one of those comedic giants whom many of us have gone down deep rabbit holes searching video clips for. Mainly for his “Wait, did he just say—no he didn’t—he did?!” form of humor throughout his entire life. I, for one, went on an “every Norm‑Macdonald Weekend Update joke compilation” binge just a few years back right after watching the 50th anniversary special. But the late Macdonald shoved rather than pushed the envelope in a way that made edgy look cool. His calm demeanor and nonchalant attitude toward just about every topic made whatever unhinged, surprising direction his roasts and insults took all the more bold and hilarious.
A Mismatched Digital Format
Five years after his passing in 2021, director Judd Apatow resurrects and celebrates the Canadian comic who took American comedy by storm, through his latest doc, Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald. It’s a weird, vast departure from his other doc efforts like The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling and George Carlin’s American Dream, Apatow’s recollection of Macdonald takes an unusual approach, beyond the usual traditionalist biographical documentary norm (pun intended), through a digital‑oriented portrait akin to going down an internet rabbit hole. It’s admirable but ultimately a mismatch of style. For a subject with such sardonic, blunt, real wit deserves better than a techno‑oriented, faux ultimate compilation masquerading as a doc.
The film starts by placing the audience as a mouse, a search bar among many different search engines, from YouTube to Google to Netflix, going through numerous Norm Macdonald queries. “Norm Macdonald biography” “Norm MacDonald career after SNL” etc. Endless streams of clips play out from his appearances on Letterman, Leno, SNL, his podcast talk show Norm Macdonald Live, radio appearances, and Conan O’Brien, along with conversations about him from friends and companions across his career like Nick Swardson, David Spade, and Adam Sandler. They praise his dry, deadpan humor, his honesty, and his unwavering indifference to the world yet kind, friendly nature that made him beloved.
Navigating the Archives
The Tale of Norm is predominantly set to an abridged audiobook version of his “not a memoir,” 2016’s Based on a True Story: Not a Memoir, utilized as a guideline through the collage of Macdonald as a being. Numerous clips and archival materials string together his career and his many contradictions, saying one thing about not having an education on stage, then saying that he did. Then footage of him performing when briefly attending Ottawa based-university Algonquin college in 1983 proving that he did.
I give the archival producing team credit in finding the unseen footage dispelling his false truths and the rare, rare home video finds that give some personal insight to his farm life upbringing and connection with his immediate family. I genuinely wished the film had more instances of it getting the viewer to know more intimately than afar via its digitalized navigation.
The entire doc is akin to going down a wormhole, collaging all the elements from his biographical career and viewpoints with a mouse. Many clips are transitioned with small click noises. It goes down every aspect of his early career to him, making fake news jokes while his brother Neil Macdonald told the real news on CBC, being the coiner of the now‑beaten‑to‑death term “fake news.” Every media report found shaped the myriad of honest, raw, and delightfully unserious viewpoints he withheld—from his shittalk on the OJ Simpson trial during his Weekend Update tenure on SNL to The Norm Show. Many highlight news clippings over moments such as his famous beef with then‑NBC exec Don Ohlmeyer, who famously fired Macdonald because he didn’t deem him funny and then prevented his film Dirty Work from airing promos on NBC, which his bosses were pissed about.
A Glorified YouTube Compilation?
To be blunt, there’s not much to tell outside of it being a well‑edited two‑hour Norm Macdonald compilation in the way of a wiki bio doc. Apatow doesn’t elicit much nuance or insight about the figure. While it’s admirable to have it be a collage encompassing his entire life and lengthy career, it’s like watching a “best‑of” that you could easily put together yourself. It’s kind of ghoulish how Macdonald is being celebrated in the Unfriended/Missing screenlife format that I’m surprised Timur Bekmambetov didn’t produce it. I kept asking who this is for, because it doesn’t give anything Norm fans can’t search up themselves, and it’s presented in a format that alienates his demographic and target audience, who might think he’d be averse to this kind of thing. It’s unique and experimental in a way that would’ve been cooler about ten years ago, and better suited for a late comedian of recent memory than then. Feels like it works better for a comic for the chronically online crowd, like Matt Rife or Shane Gillis—even though they’re around and kicking.
If there’s anything Norm: The Tale of Norm Macdonald really compels you to do, it’s to do your own Macdonald deep dive; encouraging you to watch the interviews and clips in full, as well as some of his standup specials. Again, it’s a well‑edited compilation that never justifies its own existence. Considering it’s a two‑hour flick, there’s better time spent choosing‑your‑own‑adventur. Which, honestly, is the only way to do Norm justice.