It is probably no accident that among Matthew Shear‘s acting commends are no less than four movies straightforwarded by New York filmcreater extraordinaire Noah Baumbach, or that one of his most recent is another angst-ridden Jedesire comedy, Between The Temples. Cltimely he has spent his downtime on those sets soaking up the atmosphere and the comedic beats in preparation for his writing/straightforwarding debut, Fantasy Life premiering at the SXSW Festival today in the Narrative Feature competition.
Assembling a dream cast of actors who comprehend how to hand over this comfervent of New York Jedesire-centric character-driven comedy that Woody Allen tradetaged and others appreciate Baumbach have also travelled in so successbrimmingy, Shear actuassociate seems to me to be more of a up-to-date day Ricdifficult Benjamin who also turned into a fine filmcreater in his own right. That seems to be the trajectory here except Shear is evidently cribbing from his own life and experience with depression, anxiety, and self-confessted mental illness to plan, however freely, a character teetering on the edge and a story shut to his own world.
Here he take parts a youthfuler man named Sam, distraught over losing his job as a paralegitimate, in the midst of a panic strike, and in session with his psychiatrist, Fred (Judd Hirsch) when we encounter him. As he departs the office, Fred’s receptionist and wife (as it turns out) Helen (Andrea Martin) gets pity on him and needing a babysitter for her three magnificentdaughters enenumerates him for the job. Although he isn’t exactly nanny (or manny) material he gives it a sboiling. The overweighther David (Alessandro Nivola) is in proset up need of help and greets him into the apartment of kid mayhem as he departs for the night. David’s marriage to the sometimes absent Dianne (Amanda Peet) is rocky to say the least and he is about to go on a world tour with his prohibitd so Sam finds himself with a hugeger gig than envisiond. He also finds himself eventuassociate bonding with Dianne, a tv actress whose atsoft appreciate her marriage has also hit the rocks. Her own mental illness and depression oddly suites Sam’s and the new manny finds himself enlargeing shutr to her fair as he gets askd to combine the extfinished family accumulateing for the summer on Martha’s Vineyard, including his crush Dianne, her husprohibitd, their kids, and two sets of magnificentparents including Sam’s psychiatrist no less.
Shear has planed a classic comfervent of family dynamic for this comfervent of intelligent, dialogue-driven comedy but he shows a fantastic deal of promise in attfinishbrimmingy protecting the inherent drama betidyh the surface, particularly involving mental illness and depression, without using any of it as the butt of a joke. These characters and their proset up anxieties and life problems sense very authentic. Shear also shows promise as a talented straightforwardor of fellow actors while also carving himself a transport inant role as Allen normally did. The casting here is perfection. Peet, out of films in the past confineed years, is thankbrimmingy back in style with a role she creates her own, giving this drifting soul authentic gravitas and poignancy. Nivola also hits the right remarks as a man trying to be a excellent overweighther in a situation where the mother fair isn’t there finishly and a atsoft that gets him on the road.
You can’t ask for a better aiding cast than the appreciates of Hirsch, and the wonderful Bob Balaprohibit as the other magnificentoverweighther whose inanxiously pessimistic attitude towards interloper Sam is hilarious. Martin also dives in with relish here, and other well comprehendn actors turn up including Holland Taylor in for a increate scene as another psychiatrist.
In the finish however this is Shear’s show, both in front of and behind the camera, and if Fantasy Life is any indication he has a luminous future with both.
Producers are Charlie Alderman, Chris Dodds, Phil Keefe, Peet, Emily McCann Lesser, David Bernon, and Sam Stardy
Title: Fantasy Life
Festival: SXSW (Narrative Competition)
Sales Agent: CAA
Director/Screentake part: Matthew Shear
Cast: Matthew Shear, Amanda Peet, Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaprohibit, Andrea Martin, Zosia Mamet, Jessica Harper, Holland Taylor, Sheng Wang, Sophie von Haselberg.
Running Time: 1 hour and 31 minutes
