Review from Las Vegas Weekly at CineVegas 2005

By Matthew Scott Hunter
*** 1/2

People tend to deal with grief differently. Some people get high on ecstasy, some people sleep with their father's mistress, and some people deliver a eulogy in the form of a happy song titled, "Daddy's Dead." Chris (Christopher Jaymes), Jeremy (Jeremy Sisto) and Matt (Matt Keeslar)—the three grieving brothers of In Memory of My Father—do all of the above when mourning their self-centered pop, a legendary Hollywood producer. The three brats are really no better than their dearly departed dad, and they show off some of their worst inherited traits during their father's wake.

In Memory of My Father is ultimately pointless: no one learns anything; nothing changes. In the end, the film is just about bad people behaving badly, and yet it's surprisingly entertaining. The frequently hilarious dialogue has a loose, improvisational feel that makes the entire movie seem far more realistic than it is, and Jaymes' tight direction and constant inter-cutting of scenes moves the film along at a brisk pace. The performances are great all around, particularly the drugged-out antics of Jeremy and Eric (Eric Michael Cole). It may not be the most profound or realistic film, but it's a hell of a lot more fun than you'd expect from watching despicable people at a funeral.

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