The high point of the Casey Affleck directed mockumentary is the extent in which the film’s subject remains in character, but I’m Still Here, a film composed of convenient editing and simulated fly-on-the-wall approach, is a dull exposition on celebrity, a stale mention of life in the public eye and will do nothing to inspire debate about being in a state of incognito, or the limits and limitations of method acting in an extended duration context. In the spirit of Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat and Bruno, Affleck’s silly inclusion of defection, drug abuse and escorts doesn’t do much to up the ante. Expect this to have a flash in the pan effect rather than a long lasting dissection on the media and the scrutiny of the public eye.
While Howard Hughes was a renowned recluse, mop head Joaquin Phoenix fashions himself as reckless, acidic, vile and not so unplugged. While being a celebrity might not be all it’s cracked up to be, it however it does provide one with the opportunity take a basic idea and push it into a whole new direction. The major problem with the formula is not knowing how to pitch this any other way than what was already put forth in the media. Ultimately, Affleck is more interested in the gag itself, rather than the root of the gag. Putting an end to his acting career and jokingly crossing over into hip hop should have lead the viewer into an acute understanding for how show business is damaging to the child actor who never had a choice and the more unsure territory of how commodification, and not a sudden career switch, was the heavier price to pay for himself, his family and especially, his brother River.
Best exemplified with Phoenix’s studio meeting with Sean Combs, the feeling of inauthenticity chokes the film down into a less than basic interest level submission, and the film’s climax, which pointlessly rehashes the infamous date on Late Show’s David Letterman will only feel like a case of deja-vu. In the end, it’s not a question of whether this is a real life meltdown or performance art taken to new heights that begs answering.
Reviewed at the 2010 Toronto Int. Film Festival.
September 9th, 2010.
