You really wouldn't expect to find many parallels between Damien Chazelle's First Man and Tamara Jenkins' Private Life, two of the most acclaimed movies of the fall season and potential 2019 Oscar darlings. And yet, here we are. One turns its lens to the development of the space program in the 1960s, while the other focuses on a middle-aged couple struggling to conceive. Even if there's little obvious overlap between the films, both are about an epic quest for a greater goal. This quest is all-consuming and obsessive, driving ordinary people well past the realm of reason in pursuit of something that will satisfy some deep and powerful urge. And in the end, it nearly destroys them.
Of course, the similarities pretty much end there. Except for one more- they're both among the best films of the year. Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn play Richard and Rachel, respectively, an artistically-inclined couple living in New York City. As Rachel pushes past 40, she is increasingly desperate to have a child- but her quest with Richard isn't going so well. At this point, they've tried everything, including IVF, adoption, and everything in between. Near the beginning of the film, Rachel's eggs are ready to be fertilized, but specialist Dr. Dordick (Denis O'Hare) is convinced that Richard is experiencing a sperm blockage. To fix it, the procedure will cost $10,000. Do they have that money? No. Are they going to do the procedure anyways? Yes.
In simpler terms, they've been siphoning money off Charlie (John Carroll Lynch) and Cynthia (Molly Shannon) for years, and they'll keep doing that until their goal is achieved. Eventually, Dordick recommends that Richard and Rachel acquire a donor egg, which doesn't necessarily go well. Richard is open to the idea, but Rachel is infuriated; after all, her "genetic contribution" would be virtually non-existent. When they decide that having a family member or close friend as the donor would be ideal, divine intervention arrives in the form of Sadie (Kayli Carter), Cynthia's daughter. An aimless aspiring writer who wants to live in the city, Sadie adores Richard and Rachel, eagerly accepting their offer to become the donor.
Of course, things won't be so clear-cut from there. Private Life is full of ups and downs and highs and lows, an emotional and comedic roller-coaster that is never content to be just one thing at any given time. In the hands of writer/director Jenkins, the film feels virtually boundless, jumping from cringe comedy to profound pain in a heartbeat. And even with these two elements in play, Jenkins also inserts a film-literate, Woody Allen-esque touch, throwing around references and witticisms like it's nobody's business. Still, while this is often a whirlwind of a tale (a family dinner scene where Sadie improvises and reveals that she'll be the donor is Peak Awkward Cinema), the film never forgets that two very real human beings are going through a borderline traumatic experience. Richard and Rachel's pain is palpable, and Jenkins puts us in their shoes at every opportunity.
Part of the trick comes from the casting. Giamatti and Hahn are expert performers, tasked with adding nuances to two characters defined by their obsession. Together, they find resignation, anger, bitterness, despair, gentleness- a gamut of emotions made more effective by these brutal circumstances. Individually, the performances are equally stellar. Giamatti's everyman posture is perfect for Richard; he feels fatherly and wise, but he still doesn't quite have it all together. Hahn's performance is tinged with a bit more melancholy and anguish, a seemingly instinctual understanding that this isn't going to go her way.
And it's even more impressive considering that so much of the film circulates around one primary goal. Around the halfway mark of the film, you'll probably realize that your knowledge of Richard and Rachel's life is very limited. What are their actual personalities like? Do they ever really work? Spend time together? We're given a small glance of their (private) life, and it's telling that I found myself wanting to know even more about them. Simultaneously, it's worth asking- is there anything left to discover? In one late scene, Richard suddenly exhales and reveals that he might not want to be a parent anymore. I can't speak for everyone else, but I believed him.
Jenkins finds some kind of hope in this epic odyssey, even though I'm not sure the film itself matches her optimism. Things end with a note of shattering ambiguity, equipped with the nauseating sense that Richard and Rachel's quest is bound to end up with more despair. But the road to get there is satisfying on multiple levels, and the uneasy mix of laughs and tears makes it that much more powerful.
I must be honest, I have found it difficult to write this review for nearly a month now, simply because Private Life's strengths are hard to sum up in a few paragraphs. It's a film that brings you into a recognizable world, only to beautifully weave a complex, rarely told story. Yet if I struggled to turn my admiration for Jenkins' latest outing into words, I should also emphasize that I truly, genuinely adore this movie for everything it accomplishes. Tough material, sure, but you'll fall in love with this warm, honest journey all the same. It's just terrific. And since it's on Netflix, you have no excuse not to watch it right now.
THE FINAL GRADE: A (9.2/10)
Images courtesy of Netflix
Of course, the similarities pretty much end there. Except for one more- they're both among the best films of the year. Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn play Richard and Rachel, respectively, an artistically-inclined couple living in New York City. As Rachel pushes past 40, she is increasingly desperate to have a child- but her quest with Richard isn't going so well. At this point, they've tried everything, including IVF, adoption, and everything in between. Near the beginning of the film, Rachel's eggs are ready to be fertilized, but specialist Dr. Dordick (Denis O'Hare) is convinced that Richard is experiencing a sperm blockage. To fix it, the procedure will cost $10,000. Do they have that money? No. Are they going to do the procedure anyways? Yes.
In simpler terms, they've been siphoning money off Charlie (John Carroll Lynch) and Cynthia (Molly Shannon) for years, and they'll keep doing that until their goal is achieved. Eventually, Dordick recommends that Richard and Rachel acquire a donor egg, which doesn't necessarily go well. Richard is open to the idea, but Rachel is infuriated; after all, her "genetic contribution" would be virtually non-existent. When they decide that having a family member or close friend as the donor would be ideal, divine intervention arrives in the form of Sadie (Kayli Carter), Cynthia's daughter. An aimless aspiring writer who wants to live in the city, Sadie adores Richard and Rachel, eagerly accepting their offer to become the donor.
Of course, things won't be so clear-cut from there. Private Life is full of ups and downs and highs and lows, an emotional and comedic roller-coaster that is never content to be just one thing at any given time. In the hands of writer/director Jenkins, the film feels virtually boundless, jumping from cringe comedy to profound pain in a heartbeat. And even with these two elements in play, Jenkins also inserts a film-literate, Woody Allen-esque touch, throwing around references and witticisms like it's nobody's business. Still, while this is often a whirlwind of a tale (a family dinner scene where Sadie improvises and reveals that she'll be the donor is Peak Awkward Cinema), the film never forgets that two very real human beings are going through a borderline traumatic experience. Richard and Rachel's pain is palpable, and Jenkins puts us in their shoes at every opportunity.
Part of the trick comes from the casting. Giamatti and Hahn are expert performers, tasked with adding nuances to two characters defined by their obsession. Together, they find resignation, anger, bitterness, despair, gentleness- a gamut of emotions made more effective by these brutal circumstances. Individually, the performances are equally stellar. Giamatti's everyman posture is perfect for Richard; he feels fatherly and wise, but he still doesn't quite have it all together. Hahn's performance is tinged with a bit more melancholy and anguish, a seemingly instinctual understanding that this isn't going to go her way.
And it's even more impressive considering that so much of the film circulates around one primary goal. Around the halfway mark of the film, you'll probably realize that your knowledge of Richard and Rachel's life is very limited. What are their actual personalities like? Do they ever really work? Spend time together? We're given a small glance of their (private) life, and it's telling that I found myself wanting to know even more about them. Simultaneously, it's worth asking- is there anything left to discover? In one late scene, Richard suddenly exhales and reveals that he might not want to be a parent anymore. I can't speak for everyone else, but I believed him.
Jenkins finds some kind of hope in this epic odyssey, even though I'm not sure the film itself matches her optimism. Things end with a note of shattering ambiguity, equipped with the nauseating sense that Richard and Rachel's quest is bound to end up with more despair. But the road to get there is satisfying on multiple levels, and the uneasy mix of laughs and tears makes it that much more powerful.
I must be honest, I have found it difficult to write this review for nearly a month now, simply because Private Life's strengths are hard to sum up in a few paragraphs. It's a film that brings you into a recognizable world, only to beautifully weave a complex, rarely told story. Yet if I struggled to turn my admiration for Jenkins' latest outing into words, I should also emphasize that I truly, genuinely adore this movie for everything it accomplishes. Tough material, sure, but you'll fall in love with this warm, honest journey all the same. It's just terrific. And since it's on Netflix, you have no excuse not to watch it right now.
THE FINAL GRADE: A (9.2/10)
Images courtesy of Netflix
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