Marc Maron is an incredibly funny man, but beneath that humor is an intensely relatable vulnerability. Any biography of him would need to strike this same balance to be effective. Although Are We Good? strives, like its subject, to be unabashedly authentic and unconventional, it only sometimes achieves these goals, all too often falling into a conventional rhythm.
Are We Good? Review
Are We Good? tells the story of Marc Maron, a stand-up comedian, actor, and leading podcaster who has gone through several speedbumps throughout his career but has come to be a beloved, revolutionary figure. The documentary, like Maron’s style of humor, is often bittersweet, with a strong through-line of hope even in the darkest moments.
The film primarily focuses on Maron’s bereavement in the aftermath of his partner, Lynn Shelton’s, death in 2020. It’s a very tragic story — and one that Maron has often discussed on his podcast — but this documentary explores how his grief affected his return to stand-up comedy and perspective on life. These are the most poignant, effective aspects of the movie.
Are We Good? also touches on other aspects of Maron’s experience as a comedian, such as his experiences with addiction in his twenties or the experience of being an older comedian in Hollywood today. However, these elements are much less developed than the discussion of his relationship with and grief over Shelton, often feeling almost nostalgic in nature.
The most impressive thing about Are We Good? is the level of access that director Steven Feinartz gets to Maron. Of course, Maron is already a very open book on his podcast, so anyone who listens to his show will have already heard about most of the experiences he discusses in the movie. Still, the experience that Maron has overcome is unquestionably devastating, and it’s refreshing to see a bio-doc that is this raw and vulnerable.
Beyond Maron himself, Feinartz interviews several notable comedians who share their opinions of how brilliant Maron is. Nate Bargatze, John Mulaney, David Cross, and Michaela Watkins are just a few of the people who attest to Maron’s innovative style of comedy and podcasting. They lend a higher profile to the film and share some amusing anecdotes, being talented comedians themselves, but the truth is that most viewers of Are We Good? will already have an appreciation for Maron before seeing the documentary.
Beyond the adulation of his peers, Are We Good? does precious little to convince neophytes of Maron’s comedic prowess. Although there is some footage of Maron performing stand-up or in his various film and television roles, Feinartz clearly wants this to be more about him as a person than him as a performer. However, in doing so he effectively alienates anyone who was not already part of Maron’s fanbase.
The presentation of the movie is a bit frustrating. For the most part, the documentary is composed of intimate fly-on-the-wall and interview footage that makes the experience feel close and personal. Yet, other sequences of the film resort to the gimmicks of the celebrity documentary format, like animation, and they pull viewers out of the intimate atmosphere Feinartz is working so hard to build. (Ironically, at one point in the movie, Maron makes fun of these indulgences, only for Feinartz to embrace them full-throatedly later in the runtime.)
Is Are We Good? worth watching?
This, ultimately, is the dilemma of Are We Good? Steven Feinartz deserves credit for trying to do something different and more vulnerable than the plethora of other comedian biographies, but he falls victim to many of the same traps. He struggles to strike a balance between commercial and intimate, creating a film that is too broad for fans, but not appealing to those who aren’t familiar with Maron. It has touching moments but lacks the focus it needs to do this story justice.
Are We Good? premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival, which ran March 7-15 in Austin, TX.
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