Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop

Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop follows the redheaded entertainer as he embarks on a concert tour in the wake of his decision to leave The Tonight Show, with the film subsequently detailing O’Brien’s ongoing exploits as he travels from state to state (and province to province) alongside his friends, employees, and assorted hangers-on. For the most part, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop plays like a fairly typical tour documentary – as filmmaker Rodman Flender offers up an entertaining blend of O’Brien’s behind-the-scenes antics and his energetic onstage performances. The all-access vibe ensures that the film is often at its best in its quieter stretches, as Flender has suffused the proceedings with a number of eye-opening glimpses into O’Brien’s private life (eg the comedian plays with his kids before the trip). And although there are a few lulls within the movie’s midsection, Flender’s warts-and-all treatment of his subject proves effective at buoying the viewer’s interest on a fairly consistent basis (eg there’s a fascinating sequence in which O’Brien clearly wants to rest and yet finds himself forced to meet more and more people backstage). Ultimately, Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop feels like an above-average, hour-long DVD extra that’s been needlessly padded out to 90 minutes – which inevitably diminishes both its overall impact and its mainstream appeal.

**1/2 out of ****