Claim: The Comedian stars Robert De Niro as the lead role.

The Comedian is a 2016 American comedy-drama film directed by Taylor Hackford and written by Lewis Friedman , Richard LaGravenese , Art Linson , and Jeff Ross . The film stars Robert De Niro , Leslie Mann , Danny DeVito , Edie Falco , Veronica Ferres , Charles Grodin , Cloris Leachman , Patti LuPone and Harvey Keitel .   The film had its world premiere at the AFI Fest on November 11 , 2016 and was released on December 9 , 2016 , by Sony Pictures Classics . The film opened to negative reviews from critics .