‘Marty, Life Is Short’ takes a serious look at comedian Martin Short - The Boston Globe

“Marty, Life is Short” would be a good title for a documentary on Martin Scorsese. However, Lawrence Kasdan’s film is all about another Marty, Martin Short. This intimate and funny portrait of the actor earns the poignancy of a title that’s not just a play on words; it’s also the film’s thesis statement.

As with the recent documentary “John Candy: I Like Me,” this Netflix entry presents the life and career of an “SCTV” alumnus. Kasdan shows interview footage from the familiar cast of that Canadian comedy classic television show, including the late Catherine O’Hara (to whom this film is dedicated), Andrea Martin and Eugene Levy. Other collaborators like John Mulaney and Paul Shaffer chime in from their own homes and from the many get-togethers Short and his wife, Nancy Dolman, threw for their closest friends.

Dolman and Short, who were married for 30 years, are held up as the perfect couple by everyone Kasdan interviews. So, in addition to being a document of a successful career, “Marty, Life is Short” is also a love story.

It took me a minute to remember the professional connection between Kasdan and Short. (Kasdan directed him in the 1999 dark comedy, “Mumford.”) “It is hilarious that we have to pretend we don’t know each other,” Short jokes after accusing the film of being “a hatchet job.” Since their first meeting, the two men have had “thousands of lunches” and conversations. The longtime personal connection between the film’s subject and its interviewees is a constant thread running through “Marty, Life is Short.”

Steve Martin, who first worked with Short on 1986’s “Three Amigos,” offers us advice early in the film. “Let’s say you’re gonna host a dinner part, and you invite Marty,” he begins. “And then it turns out that Marty can’t come. You cancel the party.” Through various clips interspersed throughout the film, it looks like Short is a lot of fun both on and offscreen. His private moments with his friends are full of the same level of intense joy and fierce commitment he brought to characters like Ed Grimley and Jiminy Glick.

The scenes of camaraderie heighten a bittersweet undercurrent of loss that will remind you that life is indeed short. Like so many of us, Short lost loved ones early in his life. David, the older brother he idolized, was killed in a car crash when Short was 12. His mother, Olive, the concertmistress of their hometown of Hamilton, Ontario’s Symphony Orchestra, died of cancer when he was 18. His father, Charles, an executive who immigrated from Ireland, died two years later.

When asked in several interviews how these deaths affected him, Short repeats his mantra about continuing to move forward. He doesn’t come off as stoic or unfeeling — there’s genuine emotion in his voice. It’s just an acknowledgement of the world continuing to turn no matter what happens to us.

Kasdan and his editor, Sierra Neal, incorporate these scenes in without overdramatizing them. But they do hit hard on occasion. There’s one moment when a person we’ve come to know through clips and commentary is suddenly referred to in the past tense by someone, and my heart sank.

Rest assured, however, that “Marty, Life is Short” is far from a downer. A film full of funny people celebrating a man who lives to perform can’t help but be hilarious. Plus, there are clips from all of Short’s movies like “Innerspace” (his best movie), and the underrated “Cross My Heart.” His current success with Steve Martin and Selena Gomez, “Only Murders in the Building,” gets some airtime as well.

The casual nonchalance of this documentary is one of its strongest assets. Short’s life and career are likened to a rollercoaster, with ups and downs that he somehow manages to ride out with minimal fanfare. For example, his movie output was failing at the box office, but then he won the Tony for “Little Me.” The obnoxious interviewer character, Jiminy Glick, became a surprise success. When “SCTV” ended, Short got a stint on “Saturday Night Live,” and so on.

What shines through most, however, is the love everyone has for Martin Short. From his siblings, Michael, Nora and Brian, who continue to rib him after all these years, to folks like Tom Hanks who became lifelong friends, it’s one big family of people who enjoy each other’s company. Even if they do have to perform skits and songs for their host at every party. “Marty, Life Is Short” allows you to be a fly on the wall for all that relentless merriment while reminding you to enjoy your own life while you can.

MARTY, LIFE IS SHORT

Directed by Lawrence Kasdan. On Netflix. 99 min. TV-14 (language).

Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.