Late Fame
One day when Ed Saxberger (Willem Dafoe) returns to his Soho apartment from his job sorting mail at the post office, his downstairs neighbor Paulie (Tony Torn, "The Assistant") points to a young man across the street who's been anxiously awaiting him. The precisely well spoken and dressed Meyers (Edmund Donovan, "Civil War") introduces himself and immediately begins gushing over 'Way Past Go,' a 1979 book of poetry Ed wrote but hasn't thought about in years. Ed is flustered and flattered, but politely turns down the young man's invitation to join his group, all of whom Meyers says believe Saxberger is a genius, for dinner, but Meyers is persistent and Ed is about to get a dose of "Late Fame."
Laura's Review: A
After being Oscar nominated for her first feature screenplay, the original "May December," Samy Burch tries her hand at adaptation, updating Arthur Schnitzler's 1895 Vienna set novel to present day New York City while also reflecting on the city's 1970s past. Director Kent Jones, whose humanistic "Diane" was one of 2019's best, shows it was no fluke with his second fiction feature, the film funny, insightful and uncommonly compassionate, its cast of knowns and lesser knowns alike complex examples of worlds old and new.
The film opens with a black & white montage of New York City in its punk glory dates of the late 70's and early 80's, the period when Ed flirted with the outer edges of fame. That will be a big topic with Meyer's literary group The Enthusiasm Society, purposefully named to be uncool, who ask for his recollections on the likes of Charles Bukowski, who also worked at the post office, or 'Howl' poet Allen Ginsberg, men outside of Ed's orbit except as an audience member at their readings. When Saxberger (the group insists on using last names for old world authenticity) does throw out a few names of folks he actually knew, it's clear that most are only being polite in pretending to recognize them. In addition to Meyers, there are Brussard (Clay Singer), Sherfey (Graham Campbell), Carmichael (Arthur Langlie, "A Complete Unknown") and the very young Winn (Luca Padovan, TV's 'You'), all disdaining another group on the opposite end of the lounge bar as literary critic social media influencers, but talking up Gloria (Greta Lee, "Past Lives"), an actress older than the rest of them they obviously revere.
The group begins to have an effect on Ed, who begins going through his old news clippings, and when the Society proposes a reading with him and a new work as the draw, Ed begins to view his regular blue collar buddies in a different light (as they do him, his gifting of his book as a birthday gift news to them, Arnold (Clark Johnson, TV's 'Homicide: Life on the Street') asking his old pal if he thinks they're lowbrow and getting a shocking response). Then Gloria shows up looking like a cross between Louise Brooks and Sally Bowles, her high drama style delighting Ed who finds more in common with the gifted actress than the kids who idolize them, especially after she brings him to the piano bar where she performs the Brecht Weill number 'Surabaya, Johnny' to appreciative older men.
Ed's perception of just what is happening to him begins to shift when Meyers calls him over to his apartment and it becomes clear that he's a rich kid being supported by family wealth, just like the rest of the group, however sincere their literary passions. Meyers suggests Ed visit a literary agent he knows (Jake Lacy) and Ed finds someone who says his firm 'doesn't have a mandate,' but looks to champion voices, although when explaining he knows Meyers through their fathers' law firm, suggests he will probably take that over one day. Then Ed returns Gloria's earlier unexpected drop-in with one of his own, only to discover a much less glamorous looking woman being kept by an older man who isn't at all pleased by his presence. Everything comes to a climax at The Society's reading event, where Gloria, who'd begged to read Ed's work, shows up drunk yet manages a stunning performance and where Ed, called in to replace her for his own work, reads from 'Way Past Go' to a small but appreciative audience. In the aftermath, The Enthusiasm Society judges their success via critiques from those they claim to despise, Burch working in trenchant subtext about our need for affirmation, be it via social media or face to face communication.
Dafoe's character study of a man reevaluating his own identity is beautiful to watch, the actor never overplaying his hand (although a subplot about him ignoring phone calls from his sister about their dying brother tantalizes more than illuminates). Greta Lee also knocks it out of the park as the group muse who finds all the world a stage but hides behind closed doors. Donovan finds just the right mannerisms to keep his gushing fanboy within the realm of decorum. His climactic meltdown paired with Padovan's later scene with Dafoe reveals Meyers' Society as more of an illiberal democracy. Cinematographer Wyatt Garfield ("Nine Days," "A Different Man") finds just the right angles and lighting within production designer Tommaso Ortino's New York City to suggest the past lurking just beneath the present. "Late Fame" is a gem of a film from filmmakers with unerring instincts.
Magnolia Pictures releases "Late Fame" in select theaters on 8/7/26. Click here for tickets.
