A Futile And Stupid Gesture is, ultimately, anything but pointless, exploring an important moment in pop culture through the life of a man who captured its essence as well as the people who made him an institution.

For those unfamiliar with the details, there's a neat narrative curve ball in the final act. Stupid: For sure. But futile? Hardly.

A move that, if nothing else, shockingly abandons the traditional rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-redemption four-part trajectory to which nearly every biopic slavishly adheres.

The film is strongest in its first third, where all the jokes are.