The Living Wake

If you're expecting an A-List Hollywood movie, don't bother. If you're looking to watch a unique and quirky movie with humorously distorted characters- this is it! I was laughing the whole way through at the antics employed by the primary characters. Unfolds a bit more like an on-stage story rather than a screenplay. Some of us can appreciate that! ;)

Mike O'Connell delivers the slightly abrasive character true to form and Michael Cera's character Mills is lovable.

While it's intended as a comedy, the core issues the lead struggles with are real (albeit distorted) and engage the viewers empathy if not their sympathy!

As far as Indie films go, this is one of my new favorites!

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.

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.

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.

If Leon Redbone made movies instead of music, this would be it! This movie is kooky, funny, and just plain out there. It has the feelings of 1920s slap-stick with a dark humor that comes off being incredibly enjoyable (think of those piano playing guys from Family Guy). The script is incredibly witty and outrageous situations are portrayed as regular mundanely regular occurrences for our main character. The movie is really a slice of Americana and experiments with artistic expression in a multitude of ways.

At its heart, The Living Wake is a story about a man trying to find his way in the world as he comes to terms with death. We see K. Roth Binew go through his final day on Earth as he tries to figure out the "short, powerful monologue" - his way of trying to reconcile with the memory of his father walking out on him as a child. Really, though, it is about exploring who we are and how we see ourselves versus how we want people and the world to remember us after we pass.