In Memoriam, which just had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival this week, has a very humoro
In Memoriam, which just had its world premiere at the Tribeca Festival this week, has a very humorous premise. An egotistical, rather neurotic actor finds out he is dying and has only one goal left in life: to make sure he is included on the Oscars’ “In Memoriam” reel.
Considering the pain that reel creates each year for the families of those actors and filmmakers left out, this might seem an odd idea to wrap a movie around, but the sheer narcissism it suggests is quite hilarious since this particular actor, Langston Stanfield (played by Marc Maron is his first film-starring role), will stop at nothing to get what he thinks is the only thing that matters in terms of being remembered. It is almost frightening to think that this movie might actually inspire some in the business to think the same way.
Writer-director Rob Burnett, who won five Emmys as producer of the Late Show With David Letterman, came up with this idea after realizing that his showbiz acclaim, trinkets and Emmys for all those years toiling in late-night talk, while giving him a sense of pride, don’t mean anything compared to being the person his kids will remember after he’s gone. But what if an actor felt the only worthwhile honor is to flash by on the Oscar show’s death reel, if only for a fleeting moment? Does that certify a life well lived? So here we have the fictional Langston, who whines to his longtime manager Walter (Michael McKean) that he must find a way to get him into that Oscar reel. Walter dismisses the idea at first, saying he could certainly make the Emmy “In Memoriam,” but no that is not good enough. It has to be the Oscars.
With this quest in the forefront, the film really finds its footing in exploring the life Langston currently leads, the lower-rung movies he has been in, some TV fame, and his failed marriages to Chelsea (Judy Greer) who is bringing up the daughter (Talia Ryder) her undetectable father has never really met, and celebrated actress Vicki Cash (Sharon Stone), who inadvertently one-ups Langston when she announces she has Stage 4 cancer. He selfishly thinks this will uh, kill, his chances of making the Oscars. There can’t be room enough for both, can there?
We see his interactions with each along the way, and also with his therapist, Samantha (Lily Gladstone), who good-naturedly endures Langston’s long list of oddities he recites over several sessions. Then there is the poignant reunion with the daughter he doesn’t know, never having the time to create a life with her or even be allowed to. This becomes the most human relationship as he is slowly dying, even if his misguided Oscar quest blinds him of life’s most significant moments passing him by.
In terms of laughs, Burnett is able to navigate the tricky tone between pathos and comedy, with the most hilarious part coming when Langston, after learning the person who chairs the selection committee for the Academy personally hates him, hires a PR expert, Rachel (Megalyn Echikunwoke, absolutely perfect) to assist him with a campaign that will almost assuredly land him a spot on “In Memoriam.” At first she is skeptical. “I have done campaigns to win Oscars, but not really to be in the ‘Memoriam’ reel,” she laments. Nevertheless her creativity starts percolating and she comes up with a number of surefire ideas, getting testimonials from well-known personalities (Letterman included) and then a booking on Jimmy Kimmel Live! with Kimmel and Guillermo making cameo appearances.
In what could have been a one-joke premise though instead turns out to be a edged character study of a man nearing the end and finding out the real meaning of life before his hits the end credits. Maron makes Langston actually poignant, if often annoyingly self-centered, and you may even find yourself shedding a tear or two along the way. Stone’s scene is especially forceful and well played between the two, while Greer, McKean and Gladstone are all pro. The terrific Ryder is ideally cast as a daughter just meeting her dad at a moment where it will have great meaning for both.
Burnett, Divya D’Souza, Maron, David Martin and Nicholas Weinstock are producers.
Title: In Memoriam
Festival: Tribeca Fest (Spotlight Narrative)
Director-screenwriter: Rob Burnett
Cast: Marc Maron, Talia Ryder, Lily Gladstone, Michael McKean, Judy Greer, Sharon Stone, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Justin Long
Sales agents: UTA/CAA
Running time: 1 hr 58 mins
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