I don’t think I need to hype up Amanda Peet’s newest movie, “Fantasy Life,” directed, written and starring Matthew Shear, in any way. The movie is about Sam Stein, a paralegal (Shear) who has a mental breakdown and winds up working as a babysitter for Dianne Cohen (Peet), an actress trying to revive her career after motherhood. Comedy and drama ensues, and the two form a special connection.
As you may have guessed by the characters’ names, the film is just so supremely Jewish and funny (complete with the requisite jokes about generational trauma and antisemitism that feel anything but stale). But it’s also a sharply written, very human movie about mental health and coming into your own later in life. I strongly recommend it.
And this Monday, May 17, Shear, who has starred in films like “Between the Temples” and “The Meyerowitz Stories,” will be joining Kveller (more specifically, yours truly!) for an exclusive screening and Q&A.
He’ll tell us all what making this movie was like, and what it was like working not just with Peet but with a slew of other incredible Jewish actors: Judd Hirsch and Andrea Martin, who play Peet’s character’s parents-in-law; Alessandro Nivola, who plays her husband; and Bob Balaban, who plays Peet’s dad. Need I say more? Well, if I do, the movie also stars Holland Taylor, Zosia Mamet and Jessica Harper!
If you aren’t already sold on the film, all you need to do is watch the trailer. Trust me.
Join us for a “Fantasy Life” Screening and Q&A with director Matthew Shear on May 18, at 7 p.m. ET.
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