The Living Wake

I stumbled upon this movie quite by accident, and am I ever glad I did. I can not heap enough praise upon it. Everything about it appeals to me. Mike O'Connell is absolutely hilarious in his portrayal of the hapless K.Roth Binew, who's last day of life the film chronicles. We journey with K. Roth and his biographer/chauffeur/poet Mills Joaquin (played my Jesse Eisenberg) as he attempts to invite all who have touched his life to his 'Living Wake', to be held later that evening. Aside from a plot that is well rounded and fulfilling, the dialogue is both at times snappy and ridiculously over dramatic. O'Connell's facial expressions and mannerisms alone warrant a viewing. However, what I enjoyed most about this movie was everything going on in the background. While Binew's world is populated by people and places that at first seem familiar to us, upon closer inspection we see that his world has taken on a somewhat unreal, otherworldly twist. The costumes, the props, the lighting - even the hand painted signs all lend to a magical feeling that permeates the film. Even the humble score is beautiful, particularly the piece playing in the final scene. As of this writing, the film is available for free on Hulu, and I highly recommend a viewing. I, for one, having now seen it, will attempt to find a DVD copy for purchase. It's really that good.

7.5/10

I saw The Living Wake when it screened at the Austin Film Festival in October of 2007. It was a rather amusing story of a man preparing for what he believes to be his final day of life. He wants everyone he's ever come to know throughout his life to be there to witness his wake where he will perform and then die on the spot. To say this film is offbeat would be a pretty fair way to judge it. The humor had a lot of people howling in the audience (my friend, a fellow aspiring screenwriter, was one of the many howling). I thought it reminded me in a sense of some of the work of Wes Anderson, but my friend (who is not a fan of Anderson) disagreed. After all was said and done, the film was quite enjoyable even though there were moments that were a little awkward to say the least. I hope it finds a distributor (whether it be on DVD or in the theater). It deserves it.

I have nearly memorized the lines in this movie as I have with my favorite poems and poets. This is incredibly beautiful and tragic. I have never seen anything like this film.

It is a hopeless English major's dream. I only wish that some more people appreciated this- though not too many- it's too beautiful to be mainstreamed or "hipsterized"- hipsters be damned! I love the hell outta this movie and totally respect the writers. I only wish that there was a genre of film in which more films like this one resided although maybe that's what makes this film so wonderful. I look forward to my future career as a benevolent dictator of an ant farm.

I was surprised to see that it's user rating is so low, currently at a 5.7, I decided to rate it a 9. This was honestly one of the best films I've viewed in a while, especially in the genre of comedy. The main characters K. Roth Binew and his "Biographer" Mills go on for hours attempting to appease all of K. Roth's dying requests as it is believed he will die this day will be his last here on earth, as his is apparently diagnosed with an unnamed terminal illness. K. Roth's mission is to find the brief but powerful monologue he father claimed would come to him before the end of his dying day. It is a very quirky and eccentric comedy yet it has enough depth to keep you emotionally involved in the film down the very last scene. I would recommend this title for almost anyone.

Great dark comedy!

Mike O'Connell gives a genous performance. Other actors are also very good.

But the ending is too dark. It killes the viewer's admiration for this movie. Big mistake.