Late Fame

Well-meaning optimists often nudge us to believe that it’s never too late to discover (or rediscover) our respective callings in life (and sometimes they’re right). At a time when many of us may have given up on our dreams or settled for a less complicated way of life, there are those who may nevertheless follow such inspirational advice and find the experience refreshingly rejuvenating. Such is the life of Ed Saxberger (Willem Dafoe), a longtime postal worker nearing retirement who, at one time in his youth, was admired as a gifted aspiring poet in the New York arts scene in the late 1970s. The 17-year-old high school dropout from western Pennsylvania moved to the Big Apple to find his destiny and rose to prominence in a vocation that he never saw coming. But, over time, this venture faded, and he settled into a quiet life of relative seclusion. However, a chance meeting later in life holds the potential for changing everything. Fast forward to the present day, when Ed meets Meyers (Edmund Donovan), a fawning twenty-something fan of Saxberger’s now-obscure works and the de facto head of a creative circle of socially and financially privileged peers. Like Meyers, the group’s other members (Clay Singer, Arthur Langlie, Graham Campbell, Luca Padovan, among others) are all self-proclaimed seekers of artistic integrity and ardent foes of society’s addictive reliance on the brain-rotting technology that has come to dominate us, particularly self-anointed social media influencers and cluelessly oblivious posers. Meyers has extensively talked up his idol’s rediscovered works to his rapt colleagues and pleads with Ed to meet them. Saxberger is initially reluctant, confessing that his poetic phase was a long time ago, but he begrudgingly agrees to the invitation. He soon finds that these surprisingly zealous disciples want to do whatever they can to resurrect his career, a proposal that leaves him overwhelmed but seduced at the same time. Seductions if a different kind also come Ed’s way from another group member, Gloria (Greta Lee), a middle-aged, flirtatious actress-chanteuse, who less than subtly makes eyes for him (not unlike what she’s already done for a number of other circle members). But is Ed ready for all this newfound attention? Can he recapture his past? Is he up to the task? And are Meyers and company everything they appear to be? Those are the challenges put to the protagonist in this thoroughly engaging character study from director Kent Jones. Based on the posthumously published novella of the same name (2014) by Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931), this contemporary version of that work examines the questions of can we get back what we think we’ve lost (i.e., so-called “late fame”), and what would we do with that recognition if it happens, especially if we’ve fundamentally changed in the interim? In answering these queries, the film explores an array of themes relevant to today’s conditions in the arts, in matters of legitimate integrity and authenticity, and in our willingness to embrace modern sensibilities and tangible trappings like ubiquitous technology. These rhetorical musings are effectively brought to life through the superb performances of the excellent ensemble (particularly Dafoe and Lee), the picture’s superb writing, its brisk, economical, no-nonsense pacing, and a fearless attitude in speaking its mind (an attitude not unexpected from a work by executive producer Martin Scorsese). While this offering could use a little more development in its back story, that only adds to the intrigue surrounding the protagonist’s mysterious background and unobtrusive disappearance, a minor shortcoming that’s easy to overlook. “Late Fame” is a delicious indie surprise hitting theaters at a time of year when such releases are largely unexpected, and it certainly eloquently addresses much more than I anticipated. Perhaps that’s because it’s a story to which I could personally relate in many ways. As a writer who rediscovered his calling late in life, this title profoundly spoke to me, something that might not strike as many chords with other viewers as it did for me. But, when it comes to tales of attempted comebacks, this is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Perhaps it might have the same effect on you, even providing enough inspiration to prompt you to put down the cell phone and get up out of the easy chair while there’s still time enough left to do something truly fulfilling with your life.