Some of the best parts of HBO’s hit seriesCurb Your Enthusiasm, which is now in its final season, involveLarry Davidlosing his mind over some offense committed against him. He’s incapable of letting anything go. For example, much of Season 10 involved Larry exacting revenge on a coffee shop owner. When Larry is banned from a coffee shop,he opens a spite store next door called Latte Larry’s to get back at him.
As Larry David the TV character is an exaggeration of the real-life Larry David, it shouldn’t be a huge surprise to know that the real-life man has usedCurb Your Enthusiasmas a way to vent his frustrations and retaliate against actual people who wronged him. The best example of this came after famed film criticRoger Ebertsavagely tore apart a film David had directed. The man who createdSeinfeldresponded by creating aCurbepisode with a critic who has something pretty, pretty bad happen to one of his thumbs.
Curb Your Enthusiasm
The life and times of Larry David and the predicaments he gets himself into with his friends and complete strangers.
Roger Ebert Hated Larry David’s ‘Sour Grapes’
Larry David was the king of comedy in the 1990s.He could do no wrong thanks to the massive success ofSeinfeld, which he co-created withJerry Seinfeld. David was also the showrunner for the series for its first seven seasons and wrote many episodes, basingcharacters such as Kramer on his real life.Seinfeldwas so much about Larry David that George Costanza (Jason Alexander) was based on him. Compare George to the Larry David character onCurb Your Enthusiasmand you’re looking at two sides of the same coin.
In 1998, however, asSeinfeldwas coming to its end as the biggest and best show on television,Larry David tried something newby writing and directing a feature film calledSour Grapes. StarringSteven WeberandCraig Bierko,Sour Grapesis nothing at all likeSeinfeld. That could have been a good thing, with David expanding his sights to something different, if only that something different had resulted in somethinggood.Sour Grapestells the story of a man named Richie (Bierko) who, while at a casino with his cousin Evan (Weber), asks Evan for a quarter to play in the slots. That quarter turns into a $400,000 jackpot. What follows is a film showing two men going after each other, unable to agree on who deserves what in the winnings. It’s an interesting enough premise, but none of it works.Sour Grapesis an unfunny, uninteresting movie with unlikable characters.
Critics hated it and audiences didn’t care to watch it. No one attacked it harder thanRoger Ebert, the film critic who was a household name not only for his written reviews but for hisSiskel & Ebert At the Moviessyndicated series with fellow criticGene Siskel, where the pair famously gave thumbs up and thumbs down to the movies of the week.Sour Grapesgot a major thumbs down from Ebert.In his written review, Ebert said ofSour Grapesthat it was “deflated,” “a dead zone,” “cringe-inducing,” and worst of all, “I can’t easily remember a film I’ve enjoyed less.” Ouch.
Larry David Injures a Critic on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’
Even Larry David himself knew the movie sucked, with him making fun ofSour Grapesa few times onCurb Your Enthusiasm.While David might have been able to acknowledge his failures, that doesn’t mean he was going to let the world’s most famous film critic get away with saying such harsh things about his film. As Larry David is known to do, he sought revenge. Now it’s not like Larry David was consumed with hate for Ebert. It wasn’t until Season 3 ofCurb Your Enthusiasmin 2002, four years afterSour Grapes' failure, that David decided to launch his attack on Ebert in a playful manner. In the season finale, titled “The Grand Opening,” it’s opening week for a new restaurant Larry has invested in. Of course, nothing goes right because Larry can’t let anything go. When he discovers that his new chef wears a toupee but refuses to admit it,Larry, a proud bald man, fires the guy days before they’re set to open.
Then there’s the part that takes aim at Roger Ebert.A week before the grand opening, Larry takes part in a community dodgeball game. At the game is a man named Portico (Paul Willson), a bespectacled overweight man with thinning hair. He kind of looks like a certain movie critic from TV, doesn’t he? Portico is a food critic.His gimmick is giving thumbs up and thumbs down to restaurants he loves and hates.Sounds more than a little familiar, eh? He and Larry exchange pleasantries, with Portico telling him that he’ll be coming to the restaurant next week to review it. As the game begins, Portico is revealed to be an angry player, chucking the ball as hard as he can, even at kids, and screaming at everyone. Larry takes the ball and throws it at Portico, who puts his hands out to catch it, only to have both of his thumbs broken.
Larry David Left ‘Seinfeld’ at the Height of Its Popularity, But Why?
The co-creator walked away from the biggest show on TV.
Larry is told to apologize to Portico so he doesn’t give the restaurant a bad review. Larry shows up at his office where both of Portico’s hands are wrapped in casts. The food critic tells him he won’t be able to review the restaurant. Larry looks relieved, then tells Portico about firing the lying bald chef. Portico seems like a nice guy, recommending another chef Larry should hire, but then he goes off on an assistant, cursing them for bringing him food he can’t feed himself.Larry David decides to help the guy, forking spaghetti into his mouth and only getting some of it all over his shirt.
Larry brings in Portico’s chef recommendation, an older man who is a Holocaust survivor. It also turns out that he has Tourette’s Syndrome, leading to him unleashing profanities on everyone. Larry realizes Portico’s done this to him as an act of revenge, but Larry knows he can’t fire the new guy because of his past. When the chef lets the curse words fly in front of the patrons on opening night, Larry stands up for him by cursing too. Soon everyone is doing it.The restaurant is a success in the most obscene of ways.
What Did Roger Ebert Think of the ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ Episode?
The critic had his critic. During Roger Ebert’s career, he could annoy people with what some thought were bad takes. There’s a long list ofclassic movies Ebert gave a thumbs down to, includingThe Elephant Man,Beetlejuice,The Usual Suspects, andFight Club. Still, after he passed away in 2013, he was celebrated by Hollywood and film fans alike for being a civil critic who, though he could be bluntly honest, was thoughtful and didn’t sink into mean-spirited attacks.
In 2002, just days after theCurb Your EnthusiasmSeason 3 finale that went after him, Roger Ebert was asked what he thought about the episode inMovie Answer Man Q & A, where fans could write in with questions for Ebert to answer. A fan asked Ebert, “Is there any satisfaction or pride in knowing that some writer-directors take your reviews so personally?“Ebert responded with the honesty but respect that made him so beloved. “Larry David may have been aiming at critics in general, not at me, sinceSour Grapesscored a perfect zero among major critics on the Tomatometer. There is a reason for that.Sour Grapeswas a terrible movie.Curb Your Enthusiasm, on the other hand, is a wonderful TV show and I like it a lot. I did wince when the critic’s thumbs got broken.” Roger Ebert may have arguably been wrong in some of his negative reviews, but he was correct in callingCurb Your Enthusiasma wonderful show.
Curb Your Enthusiasmis available to watch on Max in the U.S.
