Review of Margaret Cho: I'm the One That I Want

Actress/comedienne Margaret Cho's 1999 concert, filmed before a live audience in San Francisco, catches the wonderfully embittered (and yet still hopeful) comic genius at a professional peak. Regaling against the Hollywood machinery which nearly put her away for good, Cho masterfully segues from stories about her failed TV-sitcom "All American Girl" to side stories and family memories which gives her main theme--being true to yourself--more depth and punch. Smartly opening with rebel grrl music, Cho appears on-stage without any gimmicks (her follow-up concert, "Notorious C. H. O.", added a back-screen which was probably helpful to that audience but a distraction for movie viewers). This concert keeps getting better, with the funniest of the jokes becoming staples in Cho's repertoire. *** from ****