From a Beatles cover band at B.B. King’s in NYC to an Elvis wedding chapel on the Las Vegas shimmering strip, human beings are drawn to the act of imitation. And who doesn’t like an impersonator? It was W. Wotton who said, “Man is, of all creatures, the most mimical.” Supposedly, it is also the best form of a compliment.Compliment or not, what really lies behind the mask of impersonation? This is the focus for Harmony Korine’s 2007 film, Mister Lonely. Diego Luna plays a Michael Jackson impersonator who, during a show at a local nursing home meets Marilyn Monroe and is instantly enamored. So much, in fact, that he joins her, James Dean, Charlie Chaplin, and the Queen of England (to name a few) in a commune “where everyone is famous”. The hodgepodge of characters decide to build a performance in hopes the world will come to see, and it is here that reality jades their utopian fantasy.
The film acquired ambiguous reviews so it’s left to the viewer to decide for themselves.
magnet 