SummaryA dark comedy about an eccentric character who finds out he has a strange vague disease that no one knows anything about except for the exact moment of his death. The film takes place all in one day, "the last day in the life of K. Roth Binew." Binew sees himself as an important historical character and is trying to secure his legacy by inviting ... Read More
Directed By:Sol Tryon
Written By:Peter Kline, Mike O'Connell
The Living Wake
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
37
User score
Mixed or Average
4.5
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
14% Positive
1 Review
1 Review
57% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
29% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
80
Sol Tryon’s dark, irrepressibly hilarious fable offers highbrow absurdism and low-budget filmmaking at their most clever and outlandish.
60
There's nothing more irritating than a piece that strains to be kooky and eccentric, yet one reason The Living Wake ultimately gets to you is that O'Connell is not trying too hard.
50
Audiences will be either captivated or irritated, depending on their tolerance for high-concept whimsy and high-energy theatrics. By the end of the wake itself, they may be wishing Binew’s illness were running ahead of schedule.
42
The Living Wake is cursed with a permanent smirk of smug self-satisfaction: It’s so delighted with itself that it leaves audiences out of the equation.
40
The number of clearly talented individuals who committed themselves to the folly of The Living Wake were fearless too.
25
This is a terminally whimsical vanity project that would probably have been a chore to sit through even in its original intended format, a 20-minute stage monologue.
20
From an opening newsreel biography to a climactic Viking funereal ceremony, the film's absurdity proves oppressive, its linguistic cartwheels so mirthless, and its meticulous Wes Anderson–indebted set design and visual compositions so self-conscious, that the ridiculousness feels petrified.
User score
Mixed or Average
50% Positive
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
50% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Aug 24, 2010
10
This has quickly become one of my favorite films. Mike O' Connell and Jesse Eisenberg are both totally secure in their roles. Eisenberg's reservation is the perfect foil for O' Connell's grandstanding. Jim Gaffigan also turns in a great performance as O' Connell's father. The script is solid. It's silly while being ponderous and the ending is perfect. I'd recommend this movie to anyone.
Production Company:
- Drops Entertainment
- Pipeline Media Group
- Mangusta Productions
- The Living Wake LLC
- Truly Original
Release Date:May 14, 2010
Duration:1 h 31 m
Rating:PG-13
Website:
Awards
Austin Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Woodstock Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
CineVegas International Film Festival
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
