Review of I'm Still Here (2010) by Ben B — 09 Aug 2011

The debate as to whether this documentary and everything within it was authentic, or whether the whole thing - from Phoenix's retirement from acting to the film's release - was an elaborate hoax, seems to have largely ended now that director Casey Affleck has come clean about the whole thing being scripted and set up.

The fact that it was hard to tell whether or not you were watching a documentary or "mockumentary" does not necessarily a good movie make; to me, the film seemed self-indulgent without a clear message, and with significant segments that were tedious and uninteresting.

To say that because the Phoenix in the film was a character being played by Phoenix the actor, and that that character was convincing, does not automatically make what you are watching worthwhile. Affleck's documentary style here is also pedestrian at best.

Ultimately a film such as this should be humorous or satirical, and I'm Still Here never succeeds to a great extent at being either of these.