The Humbling

Simon Axler is a celebrated stage actor whose command of his craft suddenly deserts him. After a humiliating performance as Macbeth at the Kennedy Center, he retreats to his rural home in Connecticut under psychiatric care, convinced his career and his life are over. Into this withdrawal comes Pegeen Mike Stapleford, the much younger daughter of an old friend, who has admired him since childhood. The two begin an affair that unsettles everyone around them, including her father, while questions linger about her motives.

The film is an adaptation of Philip Roth's novel of the same name, directed by Barry Levinson from a screenplay by Buck Henry and Michal Zebede. It is the twenty-third of twenty-eight features Levinson has directed, following The Bay and preceding Rock the Kasbah. Al Pacino, who also produced, plays Simon opposite Greta Gerwig as Pegeen, with Dylan Baker, Charles Grodin, Nina Arianda and Kyra Sedgwick in supporting roles.

Made for a modest two million dollars and released at the end of 2014, the film drew limited attention. On TMDB it holds a rating of 5.1 out of 10 from 156 votes.