“Abe and Phil’s Last Poker Game” is the rare Hollywood movie that explores the subject of aging through characters that are neither pitiable nor put on a pedestal. Charming, funny and brutally honest, it stars Paul Sorvino as a womanizing gambler and the Oscar-winning Martin Landau as a retired heart surgeon who moves into a nursing home with his ailing wife. The film was Landau’s last before his death shortly after it premiered at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. In today’s show, we talk with writer/director Dr. Howard L. Weiner, a renowned neurologist, Harvard Medical School professor and Co-Director of the Ann Romney Center for Neurologic Diseases at Brigham & Women’s Hospital who undertook this film project at age 70. Weiner tells us why he made the film, how it came together and what it was like working with the legendary Landau. He also talks about some of his non-film projects involving Alzheimer’s and cancer research, ideas he’s developing for future films and why he believes it’s never too late for life.
Watch the film: The Last Poker Game
More about Dr. Weiner’s medical research: Dr. Howard L. Weiner
Music: “Turning On The Lights” by Blue Dot Sessions | CC BY NC | Free Music Archive
Scattered: My Year As An Accidental Caregiver is available in paperback and eBook at
