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The Living Wake

Play trailer Poster for The Living Wake PG-13 2007 1h 31m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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47% Tomatometer 17 Reviews 71% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
After his doctor tells him he is dying, a self-important artist (Mike O'Connell) makes preparations for his inevitable demise.
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The Living Wake

Critics Reviews

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Ted Fry Seattle Times In all, it's a peculiar piece of absurdist entertainment that occupies a singular niche in American indie cinema. Rated: 3/4 Jun 3, 2010 Full Review Robert Koehler Variety In the end, however, pic defies all categorization, joining a small pantheon of pics including "Withnail & I" and Peter Greenaway's "Drowning byNumbers" that whistle past the graveyard with aplomb. May 21, 2010 Full Review Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times Sol Tryon's The Living Wake seems but a protracted act of stultifying self-indulgence -- but then maybe that's the point. May 20, 2010 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com The film's production design feels like it got borrowed from a Wes Anderson set, both a compliment and an insult. Rated: 2.5/4.0 Sep 14, 2020 Full Review Don R. Lewis Film Threat Funny, touching, insane, ridiculous and brilliant are just a few words I would use to describe "The Living Wake." Films like this need to be seen so seek it out, you'll be glad you did. Rated: 4.5/5 May 21, 2010 Full Review Fr. Chris Carpenter Movie Dearest An out-of-the-blue delight...I found (central character K. Roth) Binew to be inspiring and damn funny in his lack of a psychological/vocal filter. Rated: B+ May 21, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member This is my favorite movie of all time. I named my dog Binew because of this masterpiece. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member A self absorbed artist genius lives his last day as he wants, putting his best foot foward... Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the best characters in recent film. The charmingly narcissistic lead exercises a plethora of ridiculous nuances with such ballistic conviction-a bulldozer of eccentric emotion. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Quirky, a bit too quirky maybe, but not for me. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member There are defiantly some acting awards to be one from this film. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member An eccentric with a mysterious, fatal illness spends the last day of his life searching for his father who will deliver a "brief but powerful monologue" about life's purpose. Half of this film begs us to take it seriously, as though it has something profound and original to say about life and death, and the other half avoids any serious consideration in favor of broad and over-the-top comedy. The result is a mixed bag that falls short in both goals. The film's energy comes from the lead performance by Mike O'Connell; the set must not have had craft service because he chews the scenery like a starving orphan. The character K. Roth Binew is written to be larger than life, but O'Connell makes him even larger. I found myself wishing that Binew could have been played by Albert Finney, channeling his <i>Big Fish</I> character. Jesse Eisenberg is wonderful as Binew's eternally faithful and loyal assistant, a thankless character that Eisenberg mines for gold. Overall, despite O'Connell's over-the-top performance, there are a lot of little parts, moments of philosophical truth, that make this film worth watching even if the whole is inconsistent and flawed. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Living Wake

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Cast & Crew

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Sol Tryon

Director

Mike O'Connell

K. Roth Binew

Jesse Eisenberg

Mills Joaquin

Ann Dowd

Librarian

Jim Gaffigan

Lampert Binew

Diane Kagan

Marla

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The Living Wake

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Movie Info

Synopsis After his doctor tells him he is dying, a self-important artist (Mike O'Connell) makes preparations for his inevitable demise.
Director
Sol Tryon
Producer
Ami Ankin, Chadwick Clough, Charlie Corwin, Peter Klein, Mike O'Connell, Sol Tryon
Screenwriter
Mike O'Connell, Peter Klein
Production Co
Script Pipeline, Drops Entertainment, Truly Original, Mangusta Productions, The Living Wake LLC
Rating
PG-13 (Sexual Material)
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 17, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$12.1K
Runtime
1h 31m
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