Jack Lemmon learns he is dying and tries to finally connect with his son (played by Robby Benson), whom he pretty much abandoned when he left his ex-wife, Lee Remick. A man who has no real close relationships, he is loved by many acquaintances because of his outrageousness, his carefree attitude, his one-liners and clownish cut-ups; in short, he is "a crowd-pleaser," as someone in the film calls him. For all his love of life (and women) that comes through to the viewer, this is also one of the most depressing films I have ever seen. I have seen hundreds of films and seen a lot of somber, serious, and/or downbeat movies, and this was painstakingly real in its depiction of loneliness, regret, and in facing death. In fact, that night I dreamed of Jack Lemmon, and I never dream of movie stars. Having said that and also that this film may be flawed, I would watch this again, I think. Jack Lemmon gives another great performance and deservedly received an Oscar nomination for it. There is no real plot save for his trying to connect to Robby, whose character is unusually "old" for a boy his age, and truthfully whose mannerisms reminds me of someone I know. There is an array of supporting characters to lighten up the mood, including Kim Cattrall and an unusual nurse. "Tribute" is a special film about real people who are trying to reach out before it's too late.

"Tribute" stunk to high hell. Jack Lemmon is capable of brilliant work but he can be lousy when he goes too far over the top with slapstick humor (loved that chicken suit, Jack) and I defy anyone who doesn't need serious help to watch the last scene without groaning audibly and reaching for a barf bag. This continually annoying and exasperating ode to putrid schmaltz contained all the phony, forced emotions that the likes of Aaron Spelling made famous with such horrible TV shows as "Loveboat." In addition, the actor who played Lemmon's son was such a vile little creep that we actually hoped someone would run him over, yet we were supposed to care that his dad never gave him enough personal attention. By the way, was the girl who gave this jerk a tumble just a tad too sugary and sunny for words and are we seriously supposed to believe that she would stick around for dose after dose of his whiny nonsense? How's about the whore with a heart of gold? Do you know of any prostitutes who get thrown surprise parties hosted by all their satisfied johns? How frigging ridiculous. And was that woman doctor a total pain, or what? At the conclusion, when Lemmon smooched his "son" full on the mouth and then dropped his pants, the reaction shots (especially hers) were just plain sick. This one was a real stinkeroo, a 'tribute' to phony emotions, bad acting, and a rotten script. Don't bother unless you need an emetic.

I saw Tribute back when it first came out and i found it to be a great movie for me. I was only 22 then, but all my friends told me that i was very much like Scottie Templeton. He was so outgoing and wanted everyone to like him almost too much. But as the movie went on it became sadly obvious that he forgot to get his priorities straight. His family. Now that i am almost 50 (his age), i also have a son who is so much different to me. Just like Judd (Robbie Benson) in the movie. I can relate to both of their roles now even more as my son is very much like Judd. The thing that i got out of this movie was that i was able to make my son my first priority, no matter how different he may be to me. My favourite line was when Jack Lemmon was told in a nice way that "he treats everyone the same, no matter if you are a hooker or family'....that was it for me. Thanks Mr Lemmon and Mr. Benson for letting me better understand who i am today!!

I'm a big fan of Jack Lemmon's dramatic roles but not this one. The movie is about Lemmon and his estranged son played by Robby Benson, who has a deep hatred for his father. After learning Lemmon is dying, Benson tries to make thing right with his father. 125 minutes of Benson talking about how bad of a father Lemmon was, combined with Lemmon's corny jokes, does not not equal a good movie