André Is an Idiot

(Note: Tony Benna’s documentary André Is an Idiot will have a free advance screening on Monday, March 23, at The Main Cinema in Minneapolis before opening Friday, March 27.)

André Is an Idiot tells us to “Get a fucking colonoscopy.” To be sure, the André of this documentary’s title isn’t a general kind of idiot who eats detergent pods for likes, or thinks William Shakespeare wrote Titanic (an actual claim someone made to me once). He’s the kind of idiot who ignores the general wisdom that regular colon screenings should begin at 45 and continue every few years after that. A successful advertising executive for a San Francisco firm, who worked on campaigns for Toyota and Twentieth Century Fox, André Ricciardi learns he has stage 4 colon cancer at age 54. At this news, and learning her son never got screened, his mother calls him a “fucking idiot,” and the label stuck thanks to director Tony Benna. André wanted to tell his story as a warning to others and also to leave an imprint on the world beyond advertising, which he considers a wasted life. It’s a heartbreaking story that doubles as a PSA, yet it’s energetic and riotously funny, subject matter aside. 

Although many dramas and documentaries tell stories about people grappling with cancer, this one’s unique in its portrayal of André’s radical worldview and maverick sensibilities. Its funniest parts occur early on, particularly when explaining how he helped a Canadian friend, Janice, obtain a green card through a bogus marriage. To prove to immigration officials that their relationship was legitimate, they even appeared on The Newlywed Game together—they won a trip to a Caribbean resort, where they fell in love for real. André and Janice had two girls together, who were teenagers when they learned about their father’s diagnosis. But this isn’t a sobering time for André. He jokes about everything and smokes pot daily. His irreverence extends from frank discussions about his condition to hiring Tommy Chong to play his estranged father in the doc, since his real dad refuses to take part. When his frizzy hair begins to fall out, he forms the clumps into balls and pretends they’re little people with googly eyes. It’s difficult to know when he’s serious or not, or whether his outward stoicism and good humor are a shield. But he remains lively, often hilarious, and even sort of brilliant.

Benna assembles a deliriously fast-paced and active film, echoing the hyperactive way André speeds through ideas. With a zippy editing style that weaves together candid footage, interviews, random clips, and delightful stop-motion animation sequences, the execution and impressionistic structure are never dull. That’s despite its chronology over the course of three years following his diagnosis, leading to a grim last section when he appears rail-thin, his belly distended due to his failing liver, his humor mostly gone, and his daughters unsure how to behave around him. In a way, the setup recalls Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020), Kirsten Johnson’s superb doc that doubled as a therapeutic exercise to work through her father’s imminent passing. But it’s so much worse because André knows he could have prevented this had he just lived more responsibly. André Is an Idiot reminds us that cancer robs the world of true originals every day. And the minute it’s over, it will have you booking a doctor’s appointment to get screened.