Line #58 Film/TheLivingWake


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6	[[quoteright:186:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_living_wake_poster_205.jpg]]
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8	->''A man is only as good as his [[TitleDrop Living Wake]].''
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10	A 2007 film starring Mike O'Connell, Creator/JesseEisenberg, and Creator/JimGaffigan.
11
12	K. Roth Binew (O'Connell) is an eccentric, self-proclaimed genius who has recently found out that he only has until 7:30 that night to live. He recruits his best and only friend Mills (Eisenberg) to accompany him on his last day to live, in which they search for the true meaning of life in a "brief, but powerful monologue" that K. Roth's vanished father (Gaffigan) once promised to tell him, organize K. Roth's wake and invite everyone in town, and give K. Roth the most eventful last day he could ever have.
13
14	!!These tropes are dressed for death.
15	* AbusiveParents: K. Roth's mom, who doesn't believe him when he says he's dying, and blames his father's disapparence on him, [[spoiler:though she does show some remorse when he dies]].
16	* TheAlcoholic: K. Roth is a pretty severe one. He spends much of the film drinking or drunk.
17	* ArcSymbol: Clocks and time are shown and discussed; appropriate for a story about a man with only one day to live.
18	* AttendingYourOwnFuneral: And organizing it, too. The whole plot of the film revolves around K. Roth preparing his own funeral, so he can attend it and take care of some unfinished business.
19	%%* BeleagueredChildhoodFriend: Mills to K. Roth.
20	%%* BlackComedy: The blackest.
21	%%* BromanticFoil: Mills to K. Roth.
22	* CloudCuckoolander: Mills is a self-described "eccentric," but K. Roth really gives him a run for his money.
23	* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: [[spoiler:You could be forgiven for thinking K. Roth's illness doesn't exist, and that he's simply deluded himself... but, no. He really ''is'' dying.]]
24	* DaddyHadAGoodReasonForAbandoningYou: [[spoiler:As it turns out, he never did.]]
25	* DeadpanSnarker: Everyone dealing with K. Roth can slip into this.
26	* DeadPersonConversation: [[spoiler:K. Roth's conversations with his father.]]
27	* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: [[spoiler:Double-subverted. At first K. Roth thinks this about his father, though he believes his father abandoned him, not died. Then he becomes bitter towards his father... until he finds out his father actually died, and didn't abandon him at all, and actually does love him.]] His mother, who is living, is a complete and utter bitch.
28	* DespairEventHorizon: Poor K. Roth skirts over the line again and again and again. [[spoiler: Mills crosses it when he dies, too.]]
29	* DiedStandingUp: [[spoiler:K. Roth dies standing up in his own coffin.]]
30	* DrowningMySorrows: K. Roth is an alcoholic, and at one point he visits the local bar with the express purpose of doing this.
31	%%* DontExplainTheJoke: "THE SMOKE IS A METAPHOR!"
32	* DumbassHasAPoint: K. Roth's spiel about how the people should get to decide things for themselves, not some board.
33	* DueToTheDead: [[spoiler:Everyone approaches K. Roth's coffin to say their final goodbyes.]]
34	%%* EndingMemorialService
35	* ExtremelyShortTimespan: About 12 hours.
36	* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:After a breakdown, K. Roth finally comes to a moment of clarity, and ends his life with a brief song about how he's ready to die. He comes to the conclusion that it doesn't matter if he didn't achieve all he wanted, or that he never found the meaning of life. What matters is that he tried, and he ''lived''.]]
37	%%* ForegoneConclusion: K. Roth dies.
38	* ForTheEvulz: K. Roth and Reginald (especially the latter) seem to enjoy being dicks to each other just for the hell of it.
39	* GiftedlyBad: K. Roth. He's an absolutely terrible artist, entertainer, and writer, but good luck telling him that.
40	* GoodShepherd: Three members of the clergy K. Roth meets are welcoming and comforting, and help pull K. Roth out of one of his many existential freakouts. They also encourage him to patch things up with Karl, much to K. Roth's dismay.
41	%%* TheHeroDies
42	%%* HeterosexualLifePartners: K. Roth and Mills.
43	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: The prostitute K. Roth hires is sarcastic and abrasive, but nice enough to attend his living wake.
44	* INeedAFreakingDrink: After a particularly bad day, K. Roth decides to head to the pub.
45	* IntergenerationalFriendship: K. Roth looks to be about twenty years older than Mills.
46	%%* {{Jerkass}}: Reginald, Karl, K. Roth's mother.
47	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: K. Roth is a self-absorbed, self-delusional ass, but it's clear he cares about Mills, and he does genuinely want to share his creations with the world. Even if those creations suck.
48	* {{Keet}}: Mills, most of the time. K. Roth comes off as this, but as the film goes on, it becomes increasingly clear that it's just an act.
49	* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler:If you listen very, ''very'' closely, K. Roth never actually finishes the last word of his song before dying.]]
50	* KilledOffForReal: K. Roth. Knowing this from the beginning does ''not'' lessen the impact.
51	* MayDecemberRomance: K. Roth uses part of his last day to go on a date with his "true love:" the nanny he had as a child. Despite the fact that she's in her nineties and married. (The husband tags along.) Minutes before he dies, he gives her a kiss... and then gives one to her irritated husband for good measure.
52	* MomentOfSilence: [[spoiler:K. Roth's death is followed by almost complete quiet, until people come up to the coffin to pay their respects.]]
53	* NeverLearnedToTalk: According to K. Roth, his best friend Mills didn't know how to speak when they first met, so he gifted him a dictionary. By the time of the film, Mills is quite verbose and eloquent, so clearly it helped.
54	* OnlyKnownByInitials: Sort of. K. Roth's full name is Klaus Roth Binnew, but he objects when his mother calls him just "Klaus."
55	* ThePollyanna: Mills is constantly smiling and trying to make K. Roth see the bright side of things and keep him happy. [[spoiler:Which only makes his despair after K. Roth dies even more heartbreaking.]]
56	* PrecociousCrush: K. Roth had one on his nanny as a child. He uses part of his last day to act on it.
57	* RichBitch: K. Roth's mother. His brother is a male version. Subverted by K. Roth himself, who, while a bit of a jerk at times, does mean well and is a good person at heart.
58	* SitcomArchNemesis: K. Roth and Reginald. We never find out ''why'' they hate each other, but it's clear the rivalry has been going on for quite a while and is quite vicious. K. Roth tries to bury the hatchet, but when Reginald rebuffs him, he's glad to drag the rivalry out right to the bitter end.
59	* StepfordSmiler: K. Roth acts smiley and cheerful most of the time, but he is hiding a ''lot'' of issues that will come spilling out if you just barely scratch the surface. The mask finally comes crashing down at the Wake.
60	* StylisticSuck: Most of K. Roth's creative works. They're all mindbogglingly awful, much to his InUniverse audience's dismay... and his out-of-universe audience's delight. [[spoiler:But his song "Dressed for Death" is pretty good.]]
61	* TragicBromance: Mills and K. Roth's friendship becomes this after K. Roth dies.
62	* UnfazedEveryman: Mills is a bit strange himself, but compared to his surroundings, he's downright ''normal''. He takes it all in stride.
63	* UpperClassTwit: K. Roth is rich, pretentious, self-delusional, selfish, and ''not very bright'', to say the least... but there's more to him than that.
64	* VikingFuneral: K. Roth wants one. [[spoiler:The last shot of the film is Mills granting his wish.]]
65	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: It's never said where, exactly, K. Roth's hometown is -- not even what country. All the characters speak with either American or English accents, which doesn't help narrow it down at all.
66	* WholesomeCrossdresser: K. Roth's "one woman" show.
67	* WorldOfHam: How hammy? Well, K. Roth may be at his dandiest throughout the picture, but each of the minor characters have some sort of exaggerated, over-the-top quirks to them. Most notable is Reginald as the stock SitcomArchNemesis, who so revels in his hamminess that he ''literally throws ham at K. Roth.''
68	* YourDaysAreNumbered: In fact, you don't even have a full day left.

Context Film / TheLivingWake