bob dole There is not a false emotion running through In Memory Of My Father. It maintains a screwball sense of absurdity but paces itself to allow the humanism to shine through. Despite the dark tone, the likeably unlikeable ensemble cast is uniformly excellent, and there are some real laughs to be had. Hand-held cameras and semi-improvised dialogue lend it realism, while the flurry of well-crafted comic situations it creates brings it to heights of hilarity. Jaymes and his cast mates nail the characters and the dialogue and there's more than a whiff of Festen and Altman in this frantic, enjoyably overstuffed funeral drama. It's hilarious and so heart warming. Highly recommended

PeachHamBeach I was unsure how to review this movie, just as I've been unsure how to review ensemble pieces like GRAND CANYON and THE JOY LUCK CLUB. Some movies are so sprawling, so character driven, and so complex, that it's difficult for me to write a review that makes sense, but I tried anyway with IN MEMORY OF MY FATHER, a film that I've been waiting to see at least since 2003.Let me first say that without a doubt, IN MEMORY...has been worth the long wait, and that I really enjoyed every minute of it, and in doing so have gotten to know the unique storytelling style of Christopher Jaymes, director, writer and actor in this refreshing, well-edited dramedy about the death of a Hollywood movie mogul, the three sons he leaves behind, and the colorful characters who attend the wake.Chris (Jaymes), having been bribed by the father offscreen to capture his death and the subsequent family gathering on video, hires not only several professional cameramen, but expects friends like Pat (a hysterically hilariously profane Pat Healy) to help too.I deduced early on that some of the characters not only despise one another, but come across as extremely callous regarding the death of the old man. The critics who described some of these people as "narcissistic, shallow and unlikeable" may not be far off the mark. As a matter of fact, a few characters are downright hateful, in particular, Chris, who carries a very visible hostility inside him around certain members of family.But what these critics failed to comment on (or maybe even to notice) are the delicately explored family dynamics. This is dysfunction as gleefully presented as you could ever hope to see. The documentary of Dad's end of life is nothing more than an unwanted chore to Chris, and although he doesn't verbalize it outright, all you have to do is read the angry grimace on his face when he so much as thinks of his father or speaks to Dad's latest trophy girlfriend Judy, who is only 26 years old, and, as one would expect, an extravagant spender of her beloved's money.When Uncle Aled, Dad's brother (played wonderfully by the late Tom Carroll) arrives to pay his respects, he is greeted with distilled cordiality by Matt and Jeremy, and with the usual nastiness of Chris, the youngest of the brothers, the only one of the three who never forgave Aled, or Mom, for running off together and breaking up the "happy" family.Aled has a daughter, Meadow (Meadow Sisto) who is the product of his affair with the boys' mother. She is the ex-girlfriend of Pat, who naturally rattles endlessly on about how he doesn't want to see her, or her new boyfriend Eric (Eric Michael Cole), who unexpectedly spends the majority of the evening in the company of Jeremy, and they have some very entertaining discussions before deciding to do some X and change from their clothes into bathrobes.In the meantime, Chris has another friend, actually an ex, Nicholle (Nicholle Tom), to help him with the documentary by interviewing visitors at the wake. Why Chris wanted Christine (Christine Lakin) to be interviewed is anyone's guess, since she "didn't really know" Dad. Christine is a teenager who has been "hanging out" with Chris, who is in his late 20s.The entire cast shines in this film. I have not seen such a fun performance from Meadow Sisto since CROSSING FIELDS. I already mentioned how fun it was to watch Healy throw his tantrums. Jaymes is excellent as the equal parts pathetic and demonic Chris. Keeslar and Greer were great together. Even more fun were the exchanges between Cole and Sisto as Eric and Jeremy, who, influenced as much by his wife's recent behavior as the ecstasy he's taken, embarks with Eric on a very interesting little "trip".Where is all this going as Dad begins to go into rigor-mortis upstairs? Well, it's not going anywhere in particular, save the depths of these characters, all of whom I've found profoundly interesting.The film doesn't take the obvious route. The three sons appear unconcerned that Dad is dead. They're drugging, screwing and even singing irreverent songs at the piano, hurling insults at Dad's poor older friends, throwing hissy fits left and right, until at one point, Uncle Aled expresses his disgust out loud. No worries. Chris has a perfectly devilish comeback should Aled dare to open his mouth.It is here where you start to wonder, Gee, Chris really is angry. And hurt. If he didn't love his Dad, would he act like this? No, he wouldn't. That is the plot of this film. No matter what the story, and you won't have it spoonfed to you, in the end, the two older boys are doing their best to accept their Dad the way he was and move on in their own troubled lives, while Chris still struggles with unresolved anger and hatred.The comedy, beautifully timed and perfectly, wonderfully, gleefully delivered, had me in stitches. The drama is less obvious, hidden skillfully underneath the raucous laughter. And a film this irreverent would seem as cold as ice at first glance. But there is warmth, in surprising places. For instance, who knew that big-spending Judy would be so sad over Dad's death that she would lock herself in the room with him and put lip balm over his chapped mouth while talking to him about her day as though he was as alive as ever? This film made me dig deep, and made me think very hard, which is why I love it.

Mark Kosturose I saw this film at the Santa Cruz Film Festival and it was interesting. Within the first fifteen minutes of the film, I was annoyed, almost angered at the content, found myself actually sort of wanting to leave. Fortunately, I didn't because the way things came together was actually heart-warming in the most unexpected of ways. It gave me similar sensations as the first time I was watching Festen/Celebration and Big Lebowski. It's a different movie, but there are similar qualities. Watch the film if you get a chance, it's worth reaching out for, and be patient through the beginning, and you won't be disappointed.Here is a story about the film: Christopher Jaymes wrote In Memory of My Father, the opening night feature at this year's Santa Cruz Film Festival, in five days and shot it in four. That nearly impossible schedule was a consequence of his friend David Austin (who plays the dying Hollywood mogul in the film's title) asking if James, who had just returned from a three-month trip to Southeast Asia, could write a screenplay for a film they could shoot on location at a mansion once owned by Samuel Goldwyn, which Austin was about to sell. The resulting dark comedy has since gone on to win awards at a slew of festivals across the country.So how did Jaymes manage to produce Miramax-quality results on an Ed Wood schedule?"Well, some people might still think it is Ed Wood," says Jaymes of the famously failed B- movie director, "but hopefully not too many. Yeah, it was definitely out of necessity, not out of trying to prove something. But the payback came in post-production. It was a real challenge to cut the film together because we weren't able to scope every single shot perfectly, and we couldn't go back to re-shoot. So hence, it kind of gives it a little more of that 'Ooh, indie hand-held, let's go and be arty!' kind of thing. But you know, I think it sort of works with the film."Working both sides of the camera, Jaymes plays the brashly impudent youngest of three sons, whose father bribes him into filming his death and the effect it has on his family, who are by and large too self-absorbed to pay much attention to their beloved corpse ex ma-china.Jaymes' skewering of Hollywood industry scions draws upon years of living in Southern California, where he got his start playing guest roles in sitcoms and the odd "enjoyably awful TV movie."Unlike many other young writer/directors, Jaymes has no family connections (he was raised by his mother, a doctor's office manager, in Huntington Beach) and opted to study music at Berklee instead of going to film school.A musician, as well? "Yeah, that's subjective too," he laughs. "I did study and I was kind of obsessive about it for a period of time. And I toured for a little while as a piano player."As it turns out, Jaymes toured backing rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson, who for all intents and purposes is the closest thing this world has to a female Elvis Presley. "Yeah, one night after she decided that she liked me, she took me aside, we hung out and she put Elvis's ring on my hand," he enthuses. But unlike the pink Cadillacs Elvis used to hand out, this gesture wasn't for keeps. "No, she took it back," he admits. "I thought I was special for a minute."Self-deprecating as he may appear, Jaymes' star is clearly rising. He recently signed a distribution deal that will allow him to retain the Belle & Sebastian tracks in the film, and no less an indie film heavyweight than Allison Anders has compared Jaymes' debut to the films of Cassavetes and Altman (although Jaymes claims to be more of a Bunuel fan himself).When two other cinematic examples of men behaving badly--Neil LaBute's In the Company of Men and David Rabe's Hurlyburly--are offered up, Jaymes says that while he enjoyed both films, he feels more of a kinship with the latter."With Hurlyburly, I think you actually can care about some of these people by the end," says Jaymes. "I think with the Neil LaBute film, it was more like, 'Look how awful people are to each other.' But with In Memory of My Father, it's like, 'Look how self-absorbed we are. Jesus Christ, how come we don't know better?'

AbyssGlyder With 'In Memory of My Father', relatively new auteur Christopher Jaymes has created the perfect depiction of loss, depression, selfishness, love, and jealousy as applied to one family.How do we deal with loss? We drink. We get high. We have sex. We escape from loss, but the characters in 'In Memory…' get no such escape. Even with sex, drugs, and alcohol none can escape the hell dad's death has created. It takes the length of the film for the brothers to discover what has actually happened: that they are alone, that their father is exactly the man they remember, and that they always knew it. They can't escape their past, they can't escape their present, and they're damned to a future that resembles that of their father's life. Surrounded by family, but dying alone. The aesthetic style of 'In Memory…' evokes a slight documentary feel, much like 'The Office' and 'Arrested Development'. Characters address the cameras, but as the story progresses, we leave the device behind and focus on the drama, comedy, and the bitingly funny stirring of the soul that develops. Witty, poignant, brilliant, filled with squeamishly uncomfortable moments and mouth-agape situations, 'In Memory…' is most honest movie to come along this year, and I only hope Jaymes is able to continue making films of this caliber.