How far would you go to be remembered by a room full of famous people who never really knew you? For Marc Maron’s character in In Memoriam, it’s pretty damn far.
Maron convincingly plays a narcissist and, by that, I mean an actor who recently hit 60 and is obsessed with his legacy. He’s dying, faster than most because of what he sometimes refers to as “ass cancer.” He doesn’t want chemo because he still has good hair. Instead, he plans for death. But really? He plans for a black-and-white image of his face up there at the Oscars as part of its famous death montage. He’s a great actor who deserves that fleeting spot in “In Memoriam.” Just ask him! But he also cashed in on a shitty laugh-track sitcom that could ruin his chances. A journey movie ensues.
It’s a pretty great premise by its writer and director, Rob Burnett, who’s making the festival rounds and will be in Missoula when the film screens as part of the Montana Film Festival this week. He pulled a cast that is, itself, like a room full of famous people, including our hometown fave who kills it here, Lily Gladstone, along with Sharon Stone in a great scene. A few other A-listers play themselves in the effort to help Maron’s character make the cut, including Paul Rudd (who starred in Burnett’s earlier and lovely film The Fundamentals of Caring) and David Letterman (who was Burnett’s boss for about 30 years, including stints on his shows at both NBC and CBS).
Life is an unsolvable tragedy for all of us. Spoiler alert: We are going to die. I think all we can do is try to connect with each other and make fun of ourselves while we do.
Depth comes from characters not played by Maron, mainly from his insightful therapist (Gladstone) and his delightful, newly adult daughter (indie actor Talia Ryder). Like 2016’s The Fundamentals of Caring, which revolves around Paul Rudd being likable around an unlikable (at first) teenager with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, In Memoriam is both funny and sweet. That was also Burnett’s vibe when he answered a few Qs over email ahead of the MTFF, which runs at the Roxy Theater Thursday to Sunday, Oct. 22-25. In Memoriam screens 7:30 p.m. Thursday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, and Burnett will be there to chat after each screening.
The Pulp: Can you talk about the origin story of In Memoriam? When did you come up with the idea? Was there something going on in your own life that shows up in this film?
Rob Burnett: This idea had a long gestation period. The first seed was planted years ago when my 8-year-old son accidentally broke one of my Emmys [Pulpy aside: He won five as executive producer of The Late Show with David Letterman]. I was in the kitchen making pancakes for my wife and two daughters, and he had a look of abject terror on his face. I reassured him it was OK, and all I could think of was how I would remember that cute face of his long after a show-business trophy. Years later, when The Late Show went off the air, I was packing up my office and found the shattered Emmy in a box. I guess we were going to get it fixed and never got around to it. I had worked at the show for 29 years and was very much thinking about legacy — would anyone remember all those jokes I wrote? And there was the Emmy and there was my son’s face and In Memoriam was born.
What do you feel when you watch this film now?
Like every filmmaker, I of course agonize over things I could have done better. That said, of all the things I have ever done in my career, this film came out the closest to what I had in my head going in. Full credit to the cast. From Marc on down, they were all phenomenal. And of course all the other people who worked on the film as well. Being surrounded and buoyed by this amount of talent is like being given the keys to the world’s fastest race car. It is as fun as show business gets.
What do you feel when you watch the Oscars’ death montage now?
On the one hand, I am moved just like everyone else. And on the other, I believe all the positioning is downright silly. I am deeply moved by the work that was created by these inspiring people. I am utterly unmoved by what the whims of show business choose to reward or acknowledge. All the more so having researched the “In Memoriam” segment so thoroughly. A bunch of people sitting in a room deciding this sound editor deserves to be remembered and that production designer doesn’t? Come on!
Is it weird if I say you make good dad movies, even if they’re not always about dads or always-good dads?
Congratulations. I have been doing press on this movie for three months and you have just asked what is now my favorite question. First, thank you. Second, and forgive me if this sounds self-aggrandizing, but the only thing in life that I am actually confident about is being a dad. I am very good at it. It is what I was born to do. To be clear, I’d trade off some of my dad abilities in a heartbeat if it meant I could write like Martin McDonagh. (And for all I know he is a great dad, too — I don’t know the man!) Truly it is the thing that comes most naturally to me and the thing that brings me the most joy. So of course it is something I like to write about. And my inspiration for a lot of my writing is often to imagine characters who are the polar opposite of me, as Langston (Marc Maron) is in the movie. I am the most boring person alive.
Or here’s a more erudite version of that one: What do you see as the parallels between In Memoriam and The Fundamentals of Caring?
In both movies the main characters — Langston (Marc Maron) in In Memoriam and Ben (Paul Rudd) and Trevor (Craig Roberts) in The Fundamentals of Caring — are all enmired in unsolvable tragedy: impending death, relentless grief and an unyielding disease. They all deal with their plights by searching for human connection. And humor. I find this inspirational because life is an unsolvable tragedy for all of us. Spoiler alert: We are going to die. I think all we can do is try to connect with each other and make fun of ourselves while we do.
How about if I say I think you make films about death and dying that are really about life? You’d make a good obituary writer if this film thing falls through.
You are perceptive. My best friend died of ALS about 15 years ago. I wrote his obituary and there is actually a line in the movie that I took from it. It’s when Langston’s manager, Walter Zith (Michael McKean) tells Langston: “You lived four times the life in half the time.” My friend’s son saw the movie at the Hamptons Film Festival and remembered it immediately. For the record, my friend Paul Sundman was the least like Langston of any human alive. He lived four times the life the right way.
Everyone has some kind of connection to Montana. We’re curious about yours. I mean, your old boss, Dave, still lives here sometimes, right?
Yes, Dave still roams the Montana plains keeping outlaws in check. God bless him. I myself have only driven through, but I think for most of us, Montana is a feeling, a dream, a promise of something pure and better. When we were first dating, my wife, Eunice, and I had a picture of a house in Montana tacked to our cubicles — me at the Letterman show, she at Paine Webber. We would just gaze at it and microdose imagined vacations.
You probably know Lily Gladstone definitely has a Montana connection. Did you know she used to work at The Roxy Theater, where you’ll be on a stage soon?
I did not! But this makes me even more excited to be at The Roxy. Anything Lily Gladstone-adjacent wins. And that now means me! (I have teased her that for the rest of her life both Martin Scorsese and I will be on her IMDb page. Nothing she can do about it!)
Lily’s character really seems to soften Marc Maron’s. How much of that was the writing and how much was her performance and the chemistry of these two actors?
Lily reminds me of Paul Rudd in that they are both so likable as humans in real life that they can do anything on screen and the audience will love them. Seriously, those two could strangle puppies and the audience would go, “Awww, that is so sweet!”
As a result you can really push the writing with them. Paul’s character in Fundamentals says some brutal stuff to Craig’s character that only he could get away with. Likewise Lily — there are things she says to Langston that are really harsh. Coming from a different actress, they wouldn’t play. But they do because Lily is impossible not to love.
But to answer your question more directly, chemistry between actors is an interesting aspect of filmmaking. You can write it up to a point. It’s like juicing up two live wires. The writing has to make sure they are plugged in and charged. But only the actors can make them touch and create those magical sparks. It’s all the actors. Everything is the actors.
Marc and Lily are perfect on screen together because they are so different in real life. Lily is gentle and wise. Soothing. Zen. Marc is a neurotic comedian who slices through life’s headwinds with trenchant humor. And yet they do have things in common. They are both highly intelligent. And the real secret is that they both have big, empathetic hearts. Don’t tell Marc I said that about him. He’ll scowl at me.
Walter Zith, the Hollywood manager played by Michael McKean, calls in some favors in the film, notably from Jimmy Kimmel. That meant Kimmel joined a fun cast playing themselves here (Letterman, Paul Rudd, Sarah Silverman, Nikki Glaser). And you got Sharon Stone, who’s not playing herself, to really bring it in a pivotal scene. Did you also call in some favors? Good job.
Favors, begging — choose your own word. It is very meaningful to me to have these people in the film, particularly Dave and Paul, who are both integral to my television and film careers. I have known Jimmy casually for a long time, so it meant a great deal to me to have him in this as well. I’m a huge fan of his (and his wife Molly). Sarah and Nikki are both people I admire greatly. Every single thing they do is of quality.
Sharon is an insane talent. She did the film because of her relationship with Marc. But she has been beyond lovely to me every step of the way. She loves the final film and that means the world to me.
And before we move on: Talia Ryder, Michael McKean, Justin Long, Judy Greer, Alan Ruck! How lucky am I?! Matt Gold, Camille Chen, Mila DeGray, Megalyn Echikunwoke — the whole cast was super solid. And I got such a kick out of working with my buddy, Brian Quinn from Impractical Jokers! He was phenomenal!
What’s next for this film? And are you working on another death and dying movie that’s really about life?
Our reps at UTA and CAA are in the process of securing distribution. There is a lot of interest. We have some offers, but nothing final yet.
I’ve now seen the film screen eight times and the audience response has been like nothing I have ever experienced. People have asked to hug me after the film. I mean that literally. Hugs from strangers. And let’s be honest — isn’t that why we all go into show business?
We won Audience Awards at Tribeca and Charlotte so far; we are 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes; we have a famous cast that is ready to pull out all the stops to promote the film — LET’S GO, PEOPLE!!!
As for next projects, I have three in active development. Too early for me to talk about, but none revolves around death. Although now that we’re talking about it, maybe all those characters can be terminal! Stay tuned!
In Memoriam screens at the Roxy Theater at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25, as part of the Montana Film Festival. Burnett will take questions after both screenings.
