MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 733 this week

I'm Still Here (I) (2010)

6.0
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.0/10 from 9,372 users   Metascore: 48/100
Reviews: 96 user | 158 critic | 33 from Metacritic.com

Documenting Joaquin Phoenix's transition from the acting world to a career as an aspiring rapper.

Director:

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 3627 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 2005 titles created 4 weeks ago
 
a list of 2078 titles created 30 Nov 2011
 
a list of 90 titles created 3 weeks ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: I'm Still Here (2010)

I'm Still Here (2010) on IMDb 6/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of I'm Still Here.
1 win. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Comedy | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7/10 X  

A wannabe rock star in need of cash poses as a substitute teacher at a prep school, and tries to turn his class into a rock band.

Director: Richard Linklater
Stars: Jack Black, Adam Pascal, Mike White
Wayne's World (1992)
Comedy | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Two slacker friends try to promote their public-access cable show.

Director: Penelope Spheeris
Stars: Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Rob Lowe
Comedy | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8/11 X  

Spinal Tap, the world's loudest band, is chronicled by hack documentarian Marty DeBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.

Director: Rob Reiner
Stars: Rob Reiner, Kimberly Stringer, Michael McKean
Comedy | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

A comedy about four teenagers in 1978 who try to scam their way into a KISS concert.

Director: Adam Rifkin
Stars: Giuseppe Andrews, James DeBello, Edward Furlong
Comedy | Drama | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

In the 1930s, fictional jazz guitarist Emmet Ray idolizes Django Reinhardt, faces gangsters and falls in love with a mute.

Director: Woody Allen
Stars: Woody Allen, Ben Duncan, Sean Penn
Comedy | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.9/10 X  

The inseparable duo try to organize a rock concert while Wayne must fend off a record producer who has an eye for his girlfriend.

Director: Stephen Surjik
Stars: Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Christopher Walken
The Rocker (2008)
Comedy | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

The Rocker tells the story of a failed drummer who is given a second chance at fame. Robert "Fish" Fishman is the extremely dedicated and astoundingly passionate drummer for the eighties ... See full summary »

Director: Peter Cattaneo
Stars: Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate, Teddy Geiger
Pitch Perfect (2012)
Comedy | Music | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school's all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.

Director: Jason Moore
Stars: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp
Hamlet 2 (2008)
Comedy | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

In this irreverent comedy, a failed actor-turned-worse-high-school-drama-teacher rallies his Tucson, AZ students as he conceives and stages politically incorrect musical sequel to Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Director: Andrew Fleming
Stars: Steve Coogan, Catherine Keener, Joseph Julian Soria
A Mighty Wind (2003)
Comedy | Drama | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

Mockumentary captures the reunion of 1960s folk trio the Folksmen as they prepare for a show at The Town Hall to memorialize a recently deceased concert promoter.

Director: Christopher Guest
Stars: Jim Moret, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest
Comedy | Drama | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

Six unemployed steel workers form a male striptease act. The women cheer them on to go for "the full monty" - total nudity.

Director: Peter Cattaneo
Stars: Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape
Flight of the Conchords (TV Series 2007)
Comedy | Music
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8.1/10 X  

Bret and Jemaine are Flight of the Conchords, a folk-rock band from New Zealand living in New York City in search of stardom.

Stars: Jemaine Clement, Bret McKenzie, Rhys Darby
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
Himself
...
Carey Perloff ...
Play Director
Larry McHale ...
Himself
...
Himself
...
Himself
...
Himself
...
Himself
...
Himself
...
Herself
...
Himself
...
Himself
Susan Patricola ...
Herself
Patrick Whitesell ...
Himself
Nicole Acacio ...
Herself
Edit

Storyline

In 2008 while rehearsing for a charity event, actor Joaquin Phoenix, with Casey Affleck's camera watching, tells people he's quitting to pursue a career in rap music. Over the next year, we watch the actor write, rehearse, and perform to an audience. He importunes Sean Combs in hopes he'll produce the record. We see the actor in his home: he parties, smokes, bawls out his two-man entourage, talks philosophy with Affleck, and comments on celebrity. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

actor | rapper | mockumentary | hoax | gullible | See more »

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual material, graphic nudity, pervasive language, some drug use and crude content | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

16 September 2010 (Australia)  »

Also Known As:

I'm Still Here: The Lost Years of Joaquin Phoenix  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$96,658 (USA) (10 September 2010)

Gross:

$408,719 (USA) (29 October 2010)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Towards the end of the movie, there is a scene where Joaquin Phoenix is sitting with his father, at a table, drinking beers. In reality, this man is not Joaquin Phoenix's father, but actually Casey Affleck and Ben Affleck's own real-life father. See more »

Goofs

When Phoenix first meets Diddy in the hotel, he knocks on the door on the right side of the hall, then the camera switches and Diddy is opening the door on the left side of the hall. It can't just be a change in camera angle since the door is the last one on the hall. See more »

Quotes

Joaquin Phoenix: Do the snow angel, dude. I can reach you, do the fucking snow angel. Dude, do the fucking snow angel. Do the snow angel, man. Do the fucking snow angel, dude. Do the fucking snow angel!
See more »

Connections

Features Extra (1994) See more »

Soundtracks

"Lavo Techno"
Written by Christopher H. Knight
Performed by Christopher H. Knight
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

To be, or not to be . . .
9 September 2010 | by (Columbus, Ohio) – See all my reviews

"Joaquin, I'm sorry you couldn't be here tonight." David Letterman

As a piece of performance art, I'm Still Here is as good a mockumentary about celebrity insanity as you will ever get, except, of course, for This is Spinal Tap, which is the real deal of satire. Director Casey Affleck follows his brother-in-law for more than a year after Phoenix's decision to retire from his successful acting career and become a hip-hop artist.

The iconic, Nick-Nolte-like image of Phoenix with a beard and sunglasses, a sort of Blues Brother and Smith Brother all in one, is both hilarious and sad, depending on whether you believe the story of his retirement or see it as a smart marketing campaign for this film and his career. His expertly scoring blow and constantly smoking weed have an authentic air about them although a good actor could simulate. His abuse of his many paid assistants is accurate for a star but almost unbelievable for such a talented one (Walk the Line, Revolution Road). The poor quality of the sound and image makes it a Blair-Witch kin or a device to evoke realism.

I am a disbeliever because although Phoenix convinces me he is sincere about retirement, the actual lack of talent he has, evidenced more than once in the film, leads me to think it's a finely-wrought hoax. No actor as smart as Phoenix could ever judge himself talented, especially as he forms a relationship with Sean Combs, one of the great rappers of our time and in the film a shrewd judge of Phoenix's sophomoric attempts. Phoenix's gig with Letterman, see quote at beginning, could have been a part of the hoax. Throwing up after a performance looked real enough.

Phoenix could make himself into a minor rap artist if he wanted—witness his successful learning to play guitar and sing as Johnny Cash—yet it seems he prefers not to learn well just so he can fail and return into acting, where the dollars will follow.

The title is instructive—does it mean the acting Phoenix is still here, or does it suggest his whole persona—musician and actor—is here. I don't know the answer; I just know my film critic side thinks it sees a con.

If it is all true, Joaquin Phoenix will have time to get back to his real talent, acting. If not, he'll spend time mending a reputation he has willfully wrecked.


58 of 101 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Hoax or backpeddle? jandm-10
Hoax or not consider this... Angel_Fairy
I think Joaquin's music was actually pretty good ldalto
What Was The Point Of This Movie? bootblack987
Weird JohnnyBoxoffice
Holy *beep* This is the best movie I have ever seen vjasmin
Discuss I'm Still Here (2010) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?