Milwood Movie Night

A ballplayer, a professor, an actress, and a senator walk into a New York hotel. Real names are never used, but the identities of the characters are obvious. What ensues leads to a scene with Marylin Monroe explaining relativity to Albert Einstein. Insignificance (1985) is based on a stage play inspired by an autographed picture of the famed physicist that was among the actress's possessions at the time of her death. The movie blends facts with fancy by bringing together four people (Joe Dimaggio and Joseph McCarthy included) in a New York Hotel on one night in 1950. What results balances between the bleak and the comedic. It also is a fascinating discussion about fame, identity, parasocial relationships, social expectation, and loneliness. Yes, it’s one of those films.

Starring Gary Busey, Theresa Russell, Tony Curtis, Michael Emil, and Will Sampson.

Insignificance is rated R for virtually no reason. Today, it would be PG.

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