Now Showing: Slowly Dying

 

Slowly Dying

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Director: Alexander Payne

Writer: Alex Conn

Cast: Paul Giamatti, Rachel Sennott, Shailene Woodley, JK Simmons, Patricia Clarkson, Rachel Blanchard

Plot: The film opens on October 8th 2023 with a philosophy teacher gets up named John Baron (Paul Giamatti). He gets up and reads Twitter and he hears details about the Hamas attack and Israel’s response to it including turning off water and electricity for Palestinians. He has his books on his bedside table including some of the books he’s written. Like a book about “cancel culture” and a book about American foreign policy. People say hi John Baron and he goes and he teaches his class at Sarah Lawrence College. We then cut to John's wife Olivia (Rachel Blanchard) who is having hot sex with another man. John gives a lecture about the work of Anita Dick. The class laughs and he says we should all be mature. He has a rant about the situation in Israel and Palestine The film uses cross dissolves during the lecture. John Baron shows the students a video of Noam Chomsky and then falls asleep. 

John Baron goes home and he sees his wife and the other man. John and Olivia argue and she says she wants a divorce and he decides to go back to the university. John is walking around and one of his students, Jessica (Rachel Sennott), informs him of a pro-Palestine protest at Sarah Lawrence. John goes and he sees the protest. John is asked to speak at the protest as he is one of the most anti-war and leftist professors at Sarah Lawrence. He speaks at the protest basically what he said before and we see the President of the university, Patricia Johnson (Patricia Clarkson). Patricia asks to speak with John. Patricia asks John to not talk about the Israel-Palestine conflict right now at a time when the Jewish people are going through so much grief. She said Jewish student groups want you gone especially after that speech at that protest. John responds by saying standing up for the Palestinians has been a part of left wing politics for many years. Also this is Sarah fucking Lawrence a school known for its left wing activism. Many students at Sarah Lawrence supported Bernie Sanders and the entire university rightfully stood with Black Lives Matter. How is this any different? Plus he’s Jewish. Patricia corrects him and says that he’s an atheist. John says that Judaism is his ethnicity not religion. There are many atheists from the Muslim world. Patricia says why don’t you just tone it down for the time being let the families grieve. John says not while innocent Palestinians are killed. John quits his job.

He then gets a phone call from Eric (JK Simmons), the executive producer and co-host of A Light Of The Revolution, a popular left wing cable show based in Los Angeles. He says that they would like hire him and one of the main hosts, Rebecca Kyle (Shailene Woodley), loves his books and thinks he’s a genius. John finds Jessica and tells her he needs a driver and being the born and bred New Yorker he is, doesn't have a drivers license. John says he’ll pay her $1,000 and Jessica agrees.

On the road, they discuss A Light Of The Revolution and while Jessica is happy that John’s work is being recognized but that A Light Of The Revolution is a sellout organization. They are pro war and anti-homeless person specifically Rebecca Kyle. Jessica says give me a break she is not for the ending of the capitalistic structure that allows the military industrial complex and the fossil fuel industry to keep destroying our planet. John says I agree and that’s why I’m going to show them that real socialism the kind that me and you espouse is actually possible. She says that she doubts on a TV channel that he can make change due to their corporate donors.

When Jessica and John go to a Free Palestine rally. John says when I speak I got a good asset. It’s a collection of Palestinians flying Palestinian flags. John cries hearing the stories of the Palestinians talking about losing their family members in attacks from Israel. John speaks and he thanks the Palestinians for speaking and he invites Jessica an invite to speak first. Jessica says that we need to end this apartheid in Palestine. Anti-apartheid activists call it what it is, apartheid. This is a moral crisis. Every fucking day Palestinians worry about Israeli rockets. The crowd goes Amen and puts their fists up in solidarity. John Baron says of all the protests he’s been to he feels the saddest at this one. Just thinking about how Palestinian children are slaughtered for actions of Hamas and you don’t even hear about them. They don’t show up on Fox News. The stories we hear today don’t go on the corporate media. John is crying and yelling at the Israeli government to stop although John says he believes that won’t work. John goes off stage and is applauded.

John gets a phone call from Rebecca Kyle. Kyle talks about how much of a fan she is of his writing and his ideas. She even offers to fly him the rest of the way to Los Angeles. Jessica says that she wants to personally have and pay for dinner with John. John has a panic attack but Jessica convinced him to take the flight and she hugs him and they take the flight. We then cut to them at the airport and on the airplane and Jessica holds John’s hand as they take a cab to their hotel. John tells Jessica that he will have dinner with Rebecca tonight and Jessica laughs.

Rebecca Kyle waits for him at a fancy LA restaurant. Kyle talks to John about how much she loves his books, specifically his book about cancel culture. Jessica mentions that after an interview she’s being attacked and attacked by leftists for her support of Israel as a Jewish woman herself. Jessica says that she knows that John does not support Israel and she doesn’t think that he’s antisemitic but she does not like being harassed for one political take. John kind of nods along through the dinner.

In the morning Jessica gets a call from her mother cutting her off due to her finding out that she’s ditched class and ran away with her philosophy professor. She’s done. No more money for Sarah Lawrence. Her mother can’t believe that she raised an Anti-Semite for a daughter. The Jewish people had their people slaughtered by Hamas. The film then cuts to John who is just done shaving and he hears her crying and Jessica says that her parents cut her off. John says that he will take care of her. John says don’t worry about finances or economics. You are a smart woman and she never has to worry about anything and he even offers to take her to dinner.

John takes Jessica out to dinner and they discuss life and John says that Jessica is the one of the most talented and brilliant students he’s ever had and Jessica says that you’re just saying that. John says no I mean it and Jessica says thank you for everything you’ve been doing. They eventually have sex and the next day is the taping of the show. Jessica begs John to back out of the show. John is shown a tweet which Rebecca says Palestinians are pampered by the international community. John promises that he will push back but Jessica doesn’t believe him. John says the appearance could get me seen by a lot of people and will help us both maybe become comfortable. Jessica leaves and says she needs some personal time.

John is greeted by Eric on the set of A Light Of The Revolution. Eric offers John a job at A Light Of The Revolution as a contributor to the regular discussion panel. Eric says that John has shown a fighting spirit and Eric also says due to the fallout of Rebecca’s controversial tweet Eric is going to interview him instead. The interview is on and Eric introduces John Baron as an author and a professor and John Baron says hi and John goes on a rant. He blames A Light Of The Revolution to have lost its revolutionary principles. John mentions so many times they mention how much you love the police and you hate Palestine. That is quite the opposite of revolution. Eric pushes back and says that he won’t accept this kind of talk on my show. John unleashes a profanity laced rant about revolution. much of which is bleeped until he’s booted off the air. After the disastrous appearance on A Light of the Revolution, John finds Jessica on the beach near the hotel and they kiss and John says I gave ‘‘em hell and they reconcile.