Fantasy Life, from writer and director Matthew Shear, who also stars as, in his debut film behind the camera, focuses on the story of a recently fired young legal worker, Sam and how he finds himself working for the family of his psychiatrist, and finding himself attracted to the mother of the children he is meant to care for. It is a film with as much humor as it has heart, and a film which deals very directly with some rather disturbing and important emotional material. This is a film with a splendid cast, including Judd Hirsch and Holland Taylor as therapists, Alexander Nivolla as the father of the charges, Andrea Martin as Hirsch’s wife, and Amanda Peet as the girl’s mother. Bob Balaban also puts in an appearance, as the angriest non-Trumpian conservative in recent cinema.
Courtesy Greenwich Entertainment
Some films are about dense plots, and others are about characters. This is a film where perhaps a denser plot might have served it well, yet what we are provided is a rather satisfying mix of drama and comedy. Sam begins his first onscreen session with his therapist by declaring himself concerned he may be a self-hating Jew. Within this short but terrific sequence is displayed the wonderful calm timing and depth Hirsch has brought to countless roles in his long career, and which Shear wisely allows his Sam to simply sit and listen to. Sam, as we discover, grew up knowing his therapist’s family, though not particularly well, and there are some potential major violations to be concerned about if Sam messes up with his new job as the caretaker for the therapist’s grandchildren.
This is necessitated because their father is a travelling musician married to a former actress who had a collapse over a decade earlier and is trying to revive her career, while navigating a path back to full mental health. Peet manages to make Dianne the most complex and compelling figure in the film. Sam, as it turns out, is almost simply a gateway to the story of Dianne. Yet, it is their shared set of experiences and how they manage not to judge one another, that provides a lot of what the film is trying to say. Peet decides to largely underplay scenes other performers may have used as an opportunity to go for broke. Indeed, even the one high pitched scene in the film works in large part because she has taken this approach but also because what is pitched high are neither her voice nor her physical actions. It is the conviction with which she delivers her lines, each word a dagger into the heart of her intended listener.
The film also wisely does not belabor any of its points, be it this sequence or wrapping things up, by utilizing its brief, just more than 90-minute run time expertly. There is not a wasted frame, and each character is memorable and deserving of more time. Indeed, for as much credit as the brevity of the thing deserves attention, if a version existed where we got ten to twenty minutes more exploring a few of these people and their interactions, particularly Sam and his friends or Dianne and her interactions with her in-laws, this reviewer would be all for it.
Courtesy Greenwich Entertainment
Yet, the film is not perfect. It is a bit wistful in places, and sometimes seems easily resolved, even though the point is not complex plotting. This is not a naturalistic film, though it is an honest one. Again, the lack of exploring more than just the central story about Sam and Dianne-was someone a Cheers fan, perhaps?-does keep this tremendous cast from getting more than just a moment here or there. Even then, it also proves that the script works, because you want to know more, despite how slight it sometimes feels, and yet it is one of the better films of the first half of this year.
Fantasy Life is now playing in theaters.
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