Late Fame

A postal worker in Manhattan, where he’s lived almost his entire adult life, Ed Saxberger (Willem Dafoe) is getting up there in age. The last thing he expects is an admirer on his front stoop, a preppie young bohemian (Meyers — Edmund Donovan), who has come across a book of poetry Ed published nearly half a century ago, in a different life, it seems. Not only that, but Meyers is part of a literary salon, a motley group of intellectual young fogeys who style themselves The Enthusiasm Society, and who revere Saxberger’s writing. Won’t he please grace them with his presence? How could he not? And then there’s Gloria (Greta Lee), a glamorous actress who seems to have the entire group at her feet — Saxberger being next in line…

Based on a novella by Arthur Schnitzler, the 19th Century Viennese writer who also inspired Eyes Wide Shut (and La Ronde), Late Fame is a sly, poignant comedy about aging, acclaim, art and pretension. Director Kent Jones (Diane) likes people too much to satirize them too harshly, but he ensures we’re as amused as he is by the vanities we’re all prey to; fine performances from Dafoe and Greta Lee (Past Lives) see to it that we care also for their fragilities.

A bittersweet and at times painfully funny film about the horrors of desperately needing validation.

Olga Artemyeva, Screen Anarchy

Lyrical and enchanting… Dafoe’s performance is like a slowly unfolding wildflower.

Owen Gleiberman, Variety

Quiet and often searingly droll… the movie abounds in exquisite grace notes.

Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter