Memories of Me

I think Memories of Me is one of the most under rated movies of 1988. The first movie to be directed by Henry Winkler, I think it's a completely forgotten gem.

Plot In A Paragraph: On his girlfriend's (Jobeth Williams) insistence, following a heart attack, a disgruntled New York doctor (Billy Crystal) tries to make peace with his high- spirited, street-smart and often irritatingly careless father, (Alan King) a failed actor who never quit his dream to be a success, and is called the King Of The Extras.

Billy Crustal is superb, as is Jobeth Williams, but the star of the movie is Alan King as Abe who gets along brilliantly with everyone but his son. Sean Connery pops up in an uncredited cameo as Himself, who stops to have a quick chat with "The King Of The Extras"

Winkler does a fine job of handling the touching moments as well as the funny moments.

This a great film for all the regular reasons: good acting, good writing, good themes, great production values and very watchable. This movie is a father and son film. But this movie also shows the non-Hollywood public those trials and tribulations of being a struggling (hopefully working) actor. This film also tackles some of the public prejudice against beginning actors and their starting acting gigs in Hollywood. Many people, wrongly make fun of, dismiss and attack starting non-established actors for their commercial and background (extra) work. This is because of the misinformation in the public's collective mis-informed mind. Many if not all major stars, ALL started as background performers. Actors gradually moved up through the chain of career successes. The key is persistence! All actors should be respected for their acting talents! This film does a great job in clearly illustrating how valuable any acting in this profession is worth respecting. A great inside look at the "background" of Hollywood acting and films. A great cameo of Sean Connery in this film from his working at Paramount '88 for the film "Presido". Many thumbs up!

i watched memories of me on TV some time back and i instantly took a liking to it . in fact having also watched ' big fish ' and having liked the movie a lot as well , i felt it had shades of memories of me and forrest gump. where memories of me works for me is its story and the various ironies it hides . also the humor . what also works for me is that it really touched me

and it never was sentimental .i liked this movie. and dad with jack lemmon in it came out a year later . they both have similar stories but i liked ' memories of me ' more. straight from the heart , thats what the movie is . my favourite scene is the confrontation between the father and the son where they almost end up holding each other's collars. funny yet touching.

While the story has been told before and perhaps better,(notably Jack Lemmon in "Dad" ) this story of a father and son coming to terms with their relationship after the father learns he is terminal, is worth a look.

Alan King gives a wonderful performance in the role of the father. His scene in the casting director's office near the end of the film is worth the video rental itself. Perhaps a little overdone, but it summed up his life and career. Billy Crystal ostensibly plays the straight man, something he rarely if ever has done.

Okay, the movie really isn't that good but it really does make me wail like a newborn. It's the whole father/son relationship thing that works in this film. I'm not a big fan of Billy Crystal but he's okay in this. Alan King is the real star and he shines pretty bright. Give it a chance.