The documentary André Is an Idiot opens with advertising exec André Ricciardi monologuing about an irreverent, unapologetically filthy experience he had involving splinters in a sensitive area, at the age of 13. This memorable incident was, he proclaims, the biggest mistake of his life — until he made the mistake of not getting a colonoscopy at age 50.
Ricciardi died in 2023 from colorectal cancer — but not before asking his best friend, Lee Einhorn, to make a hilarious documentary about life, death, and colorectal cancer awareness. The movie will have you in stitches: From its exploration of Ricciardi's personal collection of esoterica (he once purchased a pair of Kim Kardashian's pants in an effort to clone her) to the truly strange way that Ricciardi fell in love with his wife (no other romance has this strange of an origin story), it chronicles a lovable oddball who left us much too soon.
As André Is an Idiot makes its way into theaters near you, we called up Einhorn to talk about documenting his best friend's last years, and what Einhorn hopes viewers will take away from the film. (Hint: If you haven't already scheduled your colonoscopy, this film will be a powerful motivator to do just that.)
How did you get involved in the film?
Currently, I direct TV commercials — I work as a freelance creative director for big agencies all over the world. I ran an agency here in San Francisco for a long time, which is how André and I met about 25 years ago. We became fast friends and writing partners. We were working together when he got sick. The day that André went to the doctor and they couldn't fit the pediatric colonoscopy camera in — because he had so many tumors — we decided that we were going to do something good with this terminal diagnosis that he'd gotten.
He said, "Let's make a film: It could end up just being for my kids, so they have something to watch when I'm gone, but let's investigate death. Let's go out and visit people in different parts of the death industry, like death doulas, crystal healers, and cryogenics facilities." We cast a really wide net and shot more than 300 hours of footage for an 88-minute movie, over three and a half years.
I was in from the get-go — this was my bestie. I decided at the beginning that whatever André wanted, I was going to say yes.
How was André diagnosed with colorectal cancer?
A year before he got sick, we both turned 50. I was the rule abider of the two of us. I'm the older brother, "don't make Mom mad" type. He was like the younger brother, middle-finger-to-the-world one. And I was like, "Hey, we need to get colonoscopies. That's what you do when you turn 50."
He was like, "I'll go with you and hold your hand if that's what you need." And I was like, "No, I want you to come with me and get one with me. We'll film it — it'll be funny. We'll make a PSA out of it." But he brushed it off, like "I'm not going to get a colonoscopy with my friend, that's weird."
So he decided not to get a colonoscopy, and waited a year and a half. During that time, he was Peloton-ing a lot, and noticed that he was seeing some blood while using the bathroom. This was during COVID, so he saw a doctor virtually, and they said, "Oh, it's probably just a hemorrhoid. You're fine." So he waited another seven months. Then he finally went to a doctor in person, because he was having pain in his abdomen. That's when they were like, "Oh sh*t, you have stage four cancer — it's in your liver."
So we're trying to teach people with this film, too. As André says in the movie, there's a really easy way to not have to go through 80 rounds of chemotherapy and die — it's by getting a colonoscopy.
Who thought of the title of the film?
André called his mom up the day he got sick, the day they couldn't fit the pediatric camera in, because he had so many tumors. He told her what was happening and said, "Yeah, Lee asked me a year and a half ago to go get a colonoscopy." And she said, "Well, you're a f*cking idiot. You should have gone with your friend." She was very New York.
Out of respect for her, we kept the name of the film. Studios tried to change it and we were like, "Nope, we're going to stick with André Is an Idiot." It ended up being a great title and a good call to action: "Don't be an idiot."
What do you want viewers to take away from this film?
There's definitely the message of "Don't be an idiot like André." But I think more than that, it's about living your life the way you want to, and not letting sickness dictate how your last years are going to go. The film asks if there's a way to live your life even with a terminal diagnosis, where you can still go out and discover new things. I mean, André was very much an infomaniac — the things that we went on the road to find, I don't think he would've been pushed to explore them, had he not gotten sick.
Even while he was sick, he was still being André, which is what he wanted. I think the message of "Keep living, don't stop, don't let cancer win," is important. Unfortunately, yes, he did die, but I still think that in the time that he had left, he moved his life forward. There's a message of hope there.
I also open up every Q&A with, "I'm just so excited for you guys to meet André." I feel lucky to have been his best friend for 25 years, and I want other people to understand why. When we pitch this movie, we never lead with, "This is a movie about cancer, and it's sad." We lead with humor, because it's so accessible to everyone.
We teach a lesson with André Is an Idiot — I've gotten more than 200 people to get colonoscopies during the making of this film, so far. And yes, colonoscopies are scary for people, but by leading with humor, I hope we make them less scary.
