Fantasy Life
Matthew Shear’s first directorial effort, “Fantasy Life,” is a pleasing slice-of-life dramedy in which he plays Sam, an unemployed thirty-something simply trying to find some direction in his life. Through the recommendation of his therapist – an excellent Judd Hirsch – Sam spends a summer as a nanny (or “manny,” as the family calls him) to three young sisters whose father is touring Australia and New Zealand as a guest guitarist with a rock band.
Amana Peet
The girls – ages 11, 8, and 6 – do have a mother, but she’s desperately trying to find work as a Hollywood actress. In an ironic bit of casting, Amanda Peet (an actress who hasn’t made a film in about 10 years), plays Dianne, an actress who hasn’t made a film in about 10 years. Dianne is afraid she’s spent so much time away from the Hollywood jet set that she may never work again. In a way, her character is the arch-opposite of George Clooney’s title character in last year’s “Jay Kelly.” Jay continued to work as a Hollywood actor at the expense of being present as a father in his daughter’s lives. Dianne has chosen motherhood at the expense of her acting career.
We sense that Dianne is on the verge of giving up and resigning herself to the fact that she’ll never land that big comeback role she so fiercely seeks. Sam is simply happy to find work, even if only temporarily. Although about 15 years and a world of life experiences separate Sam and Dianne – Yes, I know, Shear may very well have borrowed these names from “Cheers” – they are drawn to each other merely by their current situation. They each need somebody to be close to. And they begin to fall for one another.
Atypical set-up
Now, here’s where “Fantasy Life” veers off course from a typical Hollywood film and goes in a different direction. Shear is smart enough not to fall for the standard traps of a Hollywood screenplay. His original work (again, his first) features realistic characters that behave as actual people would – not as caricatures churned out of the rom-com AI mill. (I know movies aren’t written by AI – at least not yet – but many romantic comedies could have been.) In the hands of “typical Hollywood,” Dianne would leave her husband David (Alessandro Nivola, who played Adrien Brody’s American cousin in “The Brutalist”) for Sam, the girls would adjust to change immediately (a la “The Brady Bunch”), and all would live happily ever after.
Real characters
But “Fantasy Life” rises above this utter predictability. Here, David is not presented as a jerk. He is charismatic and athletic – everything Sam is not. He is a bit self-absorbed (although the rock band gig is the opportunity of a lifetime for him), and he drinks a little too much (although he is definitely not portrayed as a raging alcoholic), but he genuinely cares for his daughters, and he loves Dianne. Likewise, Dianne loves David even though much of the luster has worn off their marriage. Kids have a way of doing that.
And Sam is certainly not the clever, funny, Neil Simonesque savior, coming along at just the right time to deliver Dianne from the bowels of a failed marriage. No, he has his faults too. He’s a nervous, socially awkward nebbish, prone to forgetting his anxiety medication, which results in panic attacks. He’s doesn’t perform his nanny duties particularly well, and he has a difficult time in social situations.
Little spring gem
So, how will Shear’s characters resolve their predicament? That’s the meat of “Fantasy Life,” and while this one will long be forgotten by next year’s awards season, it is one of those joyous little gems that come along every spring. Often these spring treasures are British – think “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” or “Wicked Little Letters” – but this one is purely American. Shear has a comically Jewish nature about him. He’s not as annoying as Woody Allen, nor is he as funny as Albert Brooks. But his Sam character grows on us as “Fantasy Life” progresses, and by the closing credits – which come a little too soon – we authentically like the guy.
Seek this one out
Much as in a Woody Allen film, everyone here is in therapy, and Judd Hirsch practically reprises his therapist role from 1980’s “Ordinary People,” albeit more humorously this go-round. Bob Balaban and Jessica Harper are somewhat underutilized in their grandparent roles. Unlike in a Woody Allen film, infidelity is not the name of the game in “Fantasy Life.” And that is a major part of what makes this film so endearing. These are real characters with whom we can relate. We enjoy spending 90 minutes with them. And unlike most movies today, I wish this one had gone on a little longer. Seek out “Fantasy Life.” My fear is it will be gone from theatres all too soon.
Andy Ray‘s reviews also appear on https://townepost.com/tag/film-review/