Synopsis
After a heart attack, Abbie Polin (Crystal), a New York doctor, goes to Los Angeles to see his father, Abe (King), who works in Hollywood as the "king of the extras." Their relationship has been strained for several years. This was the first movie directed by Henry Winkler, and much of it was filmed inside the MGM Studios in Culver City, California, only a few miles from Hollywood. Lisa, the romantic interest in Abbie's life, also comes for a visit and bonds with Abe, who gets along famously with everyone but his son. Abe begins having memory loss and eventually is diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. He and his son grow closer in time and, before it's too late, Abbie tries to get Abe a speaking role in a film.
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Cast
- Billy CrystalAbbie
- Alan KingAbe
- JoBeth WilliamsLisa
- Janet CarrollDorothy Davis
- David Ackroyd1st Assistant Director
- Phil FondacaroHorace Bosco
- Robert PastorelliAl (Broccoli)
- Mark L. Taylor2nd Assistant Director
- Peter ElblingDirector
- Larry Cedar1st Assistant Director (Soap)
Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Sun-Times
The best moments in the movie involve tightly knit dialogue scenes between King and Crystal, who co-wrote the movie. Their timing has the almost effortless music of two professionals who have spent their lifetimes learning how to put the right spin on a word. - 75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Sharply written by Billy Crystal and ably directed by Henry Winkler, Memories of Me turns out to be an enjoyably sentimental surprise - what it has going for it that the psychodramatic versions don't is a sense of humor, but it covers the same serious issues with a similar amount of depth. [07 Oct 1988] - 67
Tampa Bay Times
It's to Crystal's, King's and Williams' credit that they give engaging performances considering the cliched nature of the script. And, it's a measure of first-time director Winkler's fortitude that he plows through the material and keeps Memories of Me bouncing along when a less imaginative director would have abandoned the picture to its own devices. [07 Oct 1988, p.9] - 63
Miami Herald
Memories of Me is not great cinema, but like the best Hollywood schmaltz, it's delightful. [07 Oct 1988, p.E6] - 63
Portland Oregonian
Given its defiant adherence to cliche and avoidance of originality, Memories of Me should be boring, but the cast keeps it interesting, and many of the lines, fortunately, are amusing. [07 Oct 1988, p.F13] - 50
Chicago Reader
Memories of Me, directed by ex-Fonz Henry Winkler, is a "Long Day's Journey into Schmaltz," in which an already overripe father-son conflict is further sugared by large doses of show-biz sentimentality. [07 Oct 1988, p.A] - 40
Time Out
An uneasy blend of neurotic comedy and mawkish sentimentality. - 30
Los Angeles Times
In Memories of Me, nothing goes unsaid; its banalities are triumphant, its maudlin flourishes build to maudlin crescendos.
