When André Ricciardi turned 50, his best friend Lee made an unusual suggestion: why not go get a colonoscopy together? The two had reached the age in the U.S. when men qualify for the screening, and Lee pictured them happily passing gas on side-by-side toilets as the prep medication cleared their bowels, then chatting from their hospital beds while tiny cameras explored their insides. André was usually game for ridiculous plans, but this time he surprised Lee: he said no.
“I was 100% shocked,” Lee says now. “I actually got jealous because I assumed he must have arranged to go with someone else!” But André hadn’t made other colonoscopy plans. He just thought it was a crazy idea and, for once, he decided to be sensible. That turned out to be the stupidest thing he’d ever done. Eighteen months later, worried by blood in his stool, André finally went for a colonoscopy. It revealed he had stage 4 cancer.
“I hadn’t spoken to André in probably five years,” says Tony Benna, director of a moving—and hilarious—new documentary called André Is an Idiot. “Then I get this email from him and Lee saying, ‘We’ve got a great idea for a film. Can we meet on Zoom?’” Benna was excited. He had worked with André, a maverick advertising creative from San Francisco, on many projects. “We’d go shoot with Ozzy Osbourne, or meet Eminem, or hang out with the guitar technician for the Rolling Stones. And somehow you’d tie that back to, like, Dove soap or something.”
The next day, on screen, André told him: “I have cancer and I’ll probably be dead in three years. Want to make a film about it?”
It was a lot to take in, Benna says. He didn’t especially want to make a sentimental film about cancer, but he had always wanted to make one about André. “He’s one of the most insane people I’ve ever met. He had so many wild stories. I wanted to get to the bottom of them.”
And so, Benna soon learned, André really did once buy a pair of Kim Kardashian’s old leather pants at auction hoping to clone her DNA. He really did have to pull splinters out of his penis after a masturbation experiment went wrong in his grandparents’ bathroom. He really did read Helter Skelter, a book about the Manson murders, to his daughter while she recovered from surgery in the hospital.
Then there was the wedding story. In the 1990s—during what friends call André’s “bathrobe era” because he wore one for an entire year—he was out drinking when he overheard a server asking a friend to marry her so she could get a green card. The friend said no, so André spoke up: “I’ll do it!”
André had a girlfriend at the time (“She didn’t take it very well”), and Janice the bartender was seeing someone too, so the marriage was meant to be strictly platonic. Yet somehow, this fake couple managed to get onto Newlyweds, the U.S. game show where couples compete to show how well they know their new spouse. André came up with a clever plan: when asked multiple-choice questions separately, they would each pick the answer whose first letter came latest in the alphabet.
“I don’t know how legal it was,” Janice laughs today. Probably not very—but it worked. The pair won a trip to the Caribbean where, rather inconveniently, they fell in love.
Although André, with his wild hair and explosion of ideas, is the star of the film, Janice is the quiet hero, always crossing her fingers for positive test results, keeping the household running, and nursing André.As André grows sicker, Benna’s presence adds emotional depth to what might otherwise be a string of wacky adventures—and there are many. At one point, André considers making a hard copy of his genome so he could return as a clone. He visits a teacher of “death yells”—essentially a rehearsal for the last sound you’ll ever make. And he pitches a TV show called Who Wants to Kill Me?, where contestants compete for the chance to finish him off in creative ways (fed to lions? Cooked by a chef with a taste for human flesh?).
“He was so serious about that idea, we actually went to Hollywood to pitch it,” says Benna. “We got turned down, so then he went out on Hollywood Boulevard asking people if they would watch the show, so we could go back and say, ‘Look, all these people want to see it!'” He wouldn’t really have let someone turn him into soup, though, would he? Benna laughs. “You never knew. It was a little scary at times—because you weren’t sure if he was actually going to get a head transplant.”
Part of Benna’s job was to just roll with André. “If he wanted to go to a radon mine and breathe radioactive air, we went. If he wanted to do a crystal healing session, we did it. If he wanted to do nine grams of mushrooms, we were okay with that.”
It’s riotous fun. Benna uses stop-motion animation to recreate some scenes. In one, clumps of André’s fallen chemo hair are brought to life. When André’s dad, an intensely private man, refuses to appear on camera, they hire a lookalike—who turns out to be the legendary weed smoker Tommy Chong.
The pace is frenetic, but there’s a point to it. “We’re all going to go through this at some point,” says Benna. “And there are different ways to approach it. You don’t have to be scared. You don’t have to be angry. You can approach it with humor, with friends, with art. I think that message has resonated.”
At the start, André declares: “You only have time in life to get good at one or two things—and I chose advertising. What the fuck is wrong with me? What a waste of a life!” But he gets a chance to find meaning in his work, creating a campaign encouraging men to get their colon checked (it revolves around everyday items that look like sphincters).
André is forced to confront difficult parts of his past. His love for his two daughters is undeniable, but he isn’t always affectionate. He never hugs them. “He won’t talk about pain and fear,” one of them says, “which is hard for my mom.”
But it’s André’s conversations with his therapist, Peter, that take the film to another level. Peter loves André’s jokes but realizes they’re often a defense mechanism to avoid difficult emotions. “You are more than just your irreverent humor,” he tells André.
“Without Peter, I’m not sure the film would have had much direction,” says Benna. “Peter helped André grieve his own situation, but also let his family grieve. André learned to be vulnerable and humble. That allowed him to appreciate the life he lived and the love that was all around him.”
“I was surprised at how willing he was to talk,” says Janice. “The film was a wonderful way for him to think about his path and what was valuable in his life.”
André copes with chemo incredibly well. “I prepared myself by getting the worst hangovers for 30 years,” he says in the documentary. But eventually it stops working. His belly swells, his hair grows back crazier than ever, and he develops long eyelashes. He starts to resemble a wild mystic sitting atop a mountain. And the changes aren’t just physical: spiritually, his transformation is even greater, giving the film a powerful climax and sense of closure.”He had so much more to do,” says Janice, who lost her soulmate in December 2023. “So many more stories, so much creativity. And he would have made a great cranky old man.”
When Janice heard the film had won the audience award at last year’s Sundance festival, she pulled her car over and cried. Nobody had expected the film to even get a showing there. Benna hadn’t even RSVP’d. “There was a standing ovation and it felt surreal, like I was floating,” he says. “People came up to me and said they wished they’d seen it when they’d been diagnosed, because they would have felt less afraid, less angry, less isolated.”
Then there are all those who got colonoscopies because of the film. “I’ve had at least three dozen people say the film saved their life, because they got checked and caught something early.”
Lee asked Andre, shortly before he died, how he’d sum up the previous three years. “André said, ‘The best years of my life.’” Janice, who was in the room at the time making a sandwich, shouted out: “Mine too!” Lee realized it was the same for him.
Despite the heartbreaking outcome, they’d spent three precious years making countless memories with their crazy friend. “It brought us all together in a really intense, emotional way,” says Lee. “I honestly think this was part of André’s master plan all along.” André Is an Idiot is in UK cinemas from 6 February.
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about the film It was a little scary at times The funny and heartbreaking film about one mans wild final days written in a natural conversational tone
General Beginner Questions
Q What is this movie about
A Its a film that follows one mans unique and adventurous journey in the final chapter of his life blending moments of humor fear and deep emotion as he confronts his mortality
Q Is it based on a true story
A While the film feels very authentic and personal it is a fictional narrative However its inspired by universal reallife experiences of facing illness legacy and saying goodbye
Q Why is the title so long and specific
A The title It was a little scary at times is likely a direct quote from the main character capturing the films honest understated tone about facing the unknown with both fear and courage
Q Is this movie a comedy or a drama
A Its a blend of botha dramedy It finds genuine humor and lightness in a heavy situation making the emotional moments even more powerful Be prepared to laugh and cry
Q Who would enjoy this film
A Anyone who appreciates characterdriven stories about life death and human connection If you liked films like The Bucket List or The Last Holiday but with a more raw and intimate feel you might enjoy this
Deeper Advanced Questions
Q Whats the main theme of the film
A The central theme is living authentically and fully even when time is limited It explores how confronting death can ironically teach us the most about life friendship and forgiveness
Q How does the film balance funny and heartbreaking without feeling tonally uneven
A The humor arises naturally from the characters and their flawed genuine reactions to an impossible situation The comedy doesnt undercut the sadness instead it makes the characters more relatable and the poignant moments feel earned and real
Q What does wild final days actually refer to
A It doesnt necessarily mean reckless partying Wild here refers to breaking free from routine confronting unresolved issues pursuing longheld dreams and
