Critics reviews

It is not simply the death of the clown as a social institution that our "hero" confronts, but rather the threat of non-existence or non-identity, hardly a new theme in Lewis' oeuvre. What makes Smorgasbord darker and more despairing than any of Lewis' other films, however, is the fact that this threat is no longer articulated in terms of any *particular* existence or identity.

Jerry Lewis's last feature film to date, from 1983, lives up to its title in ways that seem painfully intentional... For all the occasionally forced antics, Lewis's repeated "goodbyes" whispered directly into the camera are pleas—sincere, pathetic, and unrequited—to be called back from the void.

For [Lewis], shrinks are part of the Punch and Judy show. It's in his way of unfolding the film via free association, in his art of making objects suddenly seem like words, it's in his style that Lewis really takes into account the subconscious, subconsciously of course. Hence the magnificent, inspired and unforeseen gags and the admirable scene where Nefron tries to have dinner in a restaurant but eventually gives up because the waitress lists all the possible dishes.