Late Fame is the kind of movie I enjoy seeing: A good story with strong characters and a great cast to pull it off.
Willem Dafoe is such a great character actor; Greta Lee is really good in this film as well.
Ed Saxberger(Willem Dafoe) has been working at the post office for the past 37 years, having written a book of poetry when he was quite young that kind of had an impact at first, but lost its audience, it seems, as we are shown later in the film.
One day after work, Ed is stopped by another tenant in the building telling him that a young man is eager to meet him, like it's prom night, he says to Ed. The young man is Meyers(Edmund Donavan), who has bought a copy of Ed's book and is very excited that they live just down the road from each other. Overly eager to be speaking with an admired poet such as Ed, Meyers is quite the flattering young man, and Ed's appreciation is written all over his face(picture above). The group that Myers is a part of insists on only using last names in their group, meant to evoke old-world literary authenticity & historical importance.
This group of writers & intellectuals call themselves "The Enthusiasm Society",
He invites Ed to meet the group, and eventually he accepts the invitation. Upon entering the room, Myers just randomly tells Ed who everyone is, and they welcome him without much notice, but when he then says, "This is Saxberger", their full attention is given, and everyone rises from their seats to welcome him.
Down the street from where Ed has found his new found fan club is the bar where his friends, one of 30+ years, are playing pool and just hanging out. Ed had been there in a few early scenes in the film, but he's quite enjoying this new hangout with his admirers.
Gloria(Greta Lee) is introduced a little later; she's an actress with a very hidden background that even the rest of the group is uncertain of. She seems to really like Ed, or it seems that she is like that with another man in the group. But she insists that she has nothing to do with him romantically; she will tell Ed later.
Meyers wants to have a group reading/performance evening where they might be able to read a new piece by Saxberger, but it has been so long since Ed has written anything that he is unable to make it happen before the night's reading.
So, instead, Ed reads from his previously published work "Way Past Go", which gets a fair reaction from the group that has come to the evening's event.
I should mention that this new group has made Ed push his old group of friends away, to the point that he doesn't want them at the evening's event, because he thinks it's too highbrow for them.
This is one of the best character pieces I have seen in recent memory, because of Willem Dafoe & the chemistry that he has with Greta Lee; it's quite something that seems natural. It's refreshing to see as a fan of movies.
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