Dirch Passer was the Danish Jerry Lewis: a comedian loved by the masses, behind whose grimacing surface lay the sensitive soul of an artist and obsessive perfectionist. Director Martin P. Zandvliet has spared no efforts to make this film of Dirch Passer's life. It begins with Passer's first on-stage success as a comedian in impresario Stig Lommer's revues in the 1950s. The shows demand a high level of work input, but despite his success at the side of his partner Kjeld Petersen, the young father begins to doubt his own abilities. As the pressure to succeed increases, Passer begins to drink and has ever changing girlfriends. An attempt at serious theatre results in an epic failure, Kjeld suddenly dies and Passer finds it increasingly difficult to mime the clown. A brilliant cast - including an exceptional Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Passer - and opulent wide screen images revive a piece of Danish cultural history and tell the moving drama of "A Funny Man", a character that was tragically misunderstood.