Movie Review: Fantasy Life (Chicago Critics Film Festival)

There is one great thing about Matthew Shear’s Fantasy Life, and that is Amanda Peet. Peet, who came to prominence in the early 2000s in such films as The Whole Nine Yards, Saving Silverman, and Identity but has not been in a theatrical film since 2015’s Sleeping With Other People, gives a spectacular performance as Dianne, an actress and mother who hires Sam (Shear) to be the family’s au pair as she prepares for her roles and her husband David (Alessandro Nivola) goes on tour with his band.

Fantasy life looks at snapshots of Sam with Dianne and David’s family throughout a year, each titled a different season. It starts with Sam losing his paralegal job and stumbling into babysitting Dianne and David’s kids through a family connection. We then see Sam and Dianne’s growing bond as Dianne prepares for a new role. Sam then joins Dianne and the kids on a family vacation that doesn’t go as planned, and then the aftermath of the events of the vacation.

Peet doesn’t show up until the second season, roughly thirty minutes into the film, but when she does, it’s like a lightning bolt hit the movie. She is radiant, exuding superstar qualities we remember while also showing how chameleonic she is as an actor. She portrays a woman whose life is at a standstill. She isn’t getting acting gigs, at least the ones she wants, and her relationship with her husband is not in the best place, but she always has to put on a face for everyone around her that makes it seem like everything is fine. Meeting Sam gives her new energy. He’s different from what she’s used to, and as their bond grows, Dianne’s stress and anxieties seem to waver. Peet is effortless throughout Fantasy Life , and her performance highlights everything great about her as an actress.

It’s a shame that the rest of the movie doesn’t come close to being as good as Peet’s performance. The film’s biggest issue is its screenplay. None of the characters are interesting besides Dianne because none of them are developed. Fantasy Life focuses mostly on Sam, but I am unsure about what his journey as a character is. He has intense anxiety at the beginning of the movie, and that anxiety continues through the end. We don’t spend enough time with him watching the girls to see his growth with them. David is a very flat, one-note, bad-husband-cool-dad character we’ve seen dozens of times. The only interesting aspect about Sam is the scenes when he is bonding with Dianne, but those don’t happen nearly enough to make it a good story arc. The events of the film never flow properly, and it ends with an unremarkable thud.

Fantasy Life is an aimless film featuring a beautiful performance by Amanda Peet.

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