After refusing to promote his eagerly awaited second novel, Philip, a self-absorbed writer, takes up residence at the home of his literary idol. When Philip';s idol Ike Zimmerman offers his isolated summer home as a refuge, he finally gets the peace and quiet to focus on his favorite subject: himself.
If the point of Listen Up Philip is that talented people can also be colossal jerks - well, that's about as eye-opening as saying that pizza is a hugely popular menu item.
Written and directed by Alex Ross Perry, Listen Up Philip looks like the kind of movie film classes would study in the 1970s.
Movie City News
December 12, 2015
With Listen Up Philip [Alex Ross Perry is] certainly speaking a truth, and doing so with a rare, unflinching honesty, even if it's sometimes hard to watch Philip's tragically miserable existence unfold.
Perry's acerbic sense of the literary/academic lifestyle - which, oddly enough, involves less actual writing and teaching than drinking and "thinking" - is both exceptionally funny and deeply sad.
Why would anyone want to spend time with these people? Because they're fools with great gifts, and Perry almost lovingly explores the gulf between the beauty with which they create and the smallness with which they live.
