Memories of Me

Directed by Henry Winkler, Memories of Me follows Billy Crystal’s Abbie Polin as he attempts to reconcile with his estranged father (Alan King’s Abe) in the wake of a heart attack. Filmmaker Winkler, armed with Crystal and Eric Roth’s screenplay, delivers an almost unreasonably sluggish endeavor that proves, for the most part, unable to capture (and sustain) the viewer’s ongoing interest, and there’s little doubt, certainly, that the arms-length atmosphere is compounded by King’s nails-on-a-chalkboard portrayal of a seriously (and aggressively) grating figure. (Crystal and JoBeth Williams, cast as Abbie’s long-suffering girlfriend, are comparatively quite stellar here, at least.) And while the picture’s second half admittedly does contain a small handful of heartfelt moments, including a stirring sequence wherein Abe breaks down, Memories of Me, filled to the brim with Abe’s far-from-hilarious schtick, generally comes off as a disappointing misfire that just isn’t able to pack the emotional punch for which Winkler is surely striving.

** out of ****