“That’s you, drops of water and you’re on top of the mountain of success. But one day you start sliding down the mountain and you think wait a minute; I’m a mountain top water drop. I don’t belong in this valley, this river, this low dark ocean with all these drops of water. Then one day it gets hot and you slowly evaporate into air, way up, higher than any mountain top, all the way to the heavens. Then you understand that it was at your lowest that you were closest to God. Life’s a journey that goes round and round and the end is closest to the beginning. So if it’s change you need, relish the journey.”

The speech from Edward James Olmos, punctuated by Joaquin Phoenix nodding his head and occasionally mumbling, actually goes on for a little while longer, and, whether spontaneous or scripted, is a great soliloquy on egoism and self-reflection.

A commentary that the film doesn’t deserve. For all their effort to reflect on celebrity and explore the relationship between the media and its audience, I’m Still Here masterminds Casey Affleck and Joaquin Phoenix spend most of their time creating that attention. The duo seem to miss the irony of titling their fake documentary about an actor that no one has forgotten about, or been given time to, largely because of their own efforts, “I’m Still Here.” This same aspect, the fact that I am familiar with a lot of this footage either virally or through reading headlines, makes the film seem long, leaving only a few facets of the movie actually worth watching: Phoenix’s ramblings, his music demos (read: “complicated” demo), and a handful of shots that evoke the creators’ desired themes. But even those aren’t enough for more than a youtube recommendation.