ANDRE IS AN IDIOT

(director/writer: Tony Benna; cinematographer: Ethan Indorf; editors: Parker Laramie, Tony Benna; music: Dan Deacon; cast: André Ricciardi, Janice Ricciardi, Tallula Ricciardi, Delilah Ricciardi, Nick Ricciardi, Lee Einhorn, Peter Carnochan, Tommy Chong; Runtime: 88; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: André Ricciardi, Tory Tunnell, Joshua Altman, Stelio Kitrilakis, Ben Cotner.; A24/Joint Venture; 2025)

“Zany documentary on an eccentric named André Ricciardi.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Tony Benna, the veteran editor, directs this zany documentary on an eccentric named André Ricciardi, a hippie-like former advertising executive from San Francisco, who affectionately calls himself an idiot because he delayed getting a colonoscopy until he was 52 and was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer.

Knowing his condition was terminal, the huckster decided to make this documentary filled with gallows humor because he was curious about how he would react to dying and it might help save other lives.

Andre relates warmly to his Canadian wife Janice, who he married so she could get a green card, and also to his two teenaged daughters. The dying man tries to be upbeat as he begins chemotherapy and physically starts coming apart, as he lets us know it would be wise to take the test at the age of 45 when the doctors recommend taking it.

It’s a humorous, moving and irreverent public service announcement type of film that was filmed from 2020 to 2023. Andre died in 2023 at age 55.

It played at the Sundance Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 4/28/2026  GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com