In the last few years, Jewish-themed comedies have been enjoying a mini resurgence on the big screen (Bad Shabbos, Between The Temples) and television (Nobody Wants This). Actor Matthew Shear (The Alienist; Mistress America), making his directorial debut, is a triple threat here, also writing and co-starring in Fantasy Life. His script (in part based on his gigs in his 20s as a male nanny on Manhattan’s Upper East Side) and the performances deftly tackle identity (Jewish and otherwise), familial relationships and mental illness.
When we’re introduced to Sam (Shear), he’s not doing well: newly laid off from his paralegal job in a New York law office (after having left law school for mental health reasons), he has a panic attack in a shop, falling hard into a bookcase. With a resulting gash in his head, he goes to his therapist, Fred (Judd Hirsch – Ordinary People call back), one of the few constants in his life. Fred and his wife Helen (Andrea Martin), who runs the office, have known Sam for years through his grandparents, and suggest Sam fill in last minute as a babysitter for Fred and Helen’s three granddaughters. Their son David (Alesandro Nivola – one of my longtime faves; The Brutalist), a musician and aspiring rock star, has an unexpected opportunity to play backup for the evening. The girls’ mother is initially only alluded to, in need of rest and time away for a few days.
In short order, Dianne (Amanda Peet, Something’s Gotta Give; Your Friends And Neighbors) returns and encourages David to accept an offer to join the band on a tour. He’s off to Australia and New Zealand for three months and she enlists Sam to be the “manny” for the Summer. An out-of-work actress of a certain age, she has wealth through her father, and looks, but is suffering through her own battle with depression, medicated and barely doing more than existing in her day-to-day life with her girls and husband.
Over weeks at the family beach house in Martha’s Vineyard, Dianne and Sam, 20 years her junior, form a seemingly unlikely bond. The lonely souls find solace and an easy comfort in each other’s company, and their blossoming friendship is the heart of the movie. Sam eagerly seeks out Dianne’s film and television roles, showering her with compliments and becoming more than a bit of a fan boy. Dianne is delighted, of course, and gets an ego-boost, but it’s more than that for her. Similarly, Sam, who’s riddled with anxiety, is less in his head and gains some confidence the more time they spend together. Dianne sees the sweet guy beneath the nervous, clumsy exterior and appreciates his kindness, like his sharing with her that the reboot of Battlestar Galactica had helped him with his depression, then re-watching it with Dianne. When she tells Sam, “You’re kind of nice to be around,” you know how meaningful that is for him. Sam’s encouragement and interest (he develops a crush, and who can blame him – Peet’s high wattage smile burns bright) allow her to begin to push through the fog in which she’s been trapped.
Shear spent nearly eight years shepherding the project, and the deep affection for his characters and their stories overflows. As an actor, he makes Sam’s painful awkwardness keenly felt but even more so Sam’s heart and humor. An unvarnished Peet, who has been absent from films for a decade and arguably has never been given a role this good, brings subtlety, honesty and warmth to a sometimes unsympathetic, privileged woman.
The leads are backed by a crackerjack cast. Besides Nivola, Martin and Hirsch (who, at 91, looks livelier and younger than he did in The Fablemans four years ago!), Jessica Harper and Holland Taylor are in the mix, and Bob Balaban plays Dianne’s father. Regrettably, in a 90-minute movie, the veterans take a back seat and their characters aren’t all that developed. But they add fizz and laughs, and enrich their scenes, especially Balaban and Hirsch.
Fantasy Life , a SXWS Audience Award winner, is the kind of movie you expect to come out in August: a sleeper with a little substance that’s also smart and funny. The crowd pleaser is a solid addition to the Jewish comedy canon.
‘Fantasy Life’ is in select theaters now