Real Life

Name: Real Life
Genre: Comedy
Released: March 2, 1979
Duration: 99 min
Rating: 64

1979

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Generally favorable reviews based on 7 Critic Reviews

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Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Ratings

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8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Ratings

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Real Life

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Movie Details & Credits

Paramount Pictures | Release Date: March 2, 1979 | PG

Summary: A pushy, narcissistic filmmaker persuades a Phoenix family to let him and his crew film their everyday lives, in the manner of the ground-breaking PBS series "An American Family". However, instead of remaining unobtrusive and letting the family be themselves, he can't keep himself from trying to control every facet of their lives "for theA pushy, narcissistic filmmaker persuades a Phoenix family to let him and his crew film their everyday lives, in the manner of the ground-breaking PBS series "An American Family". However, instead of remaining unobtrusive and letting the family be themselves, he can't keep himself from trying to control every facet of their lives "for the good of the show".… Expand

Director: Albert Brooks

Genre(s): Comedy

Rating: PG

Runtime: 99 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Gary Arnold

Albert Brooks may be the Woody Allen of the 1980s. His extraordinary first feature, Real Life, demonstrates a potential genius for movie comedy and is animated by a peculiarly fertile and subtle imagination. Read full review

Janet Maslin

The ending of Real Life is the most uproarious of a good many inspired moments. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Staff (Not Credited)

Real Life delivers a pointed critique of the influence of media on our lives; it is also one of the funniest looks at filmmaking ever put on screen. Read full review

Josh Larsen

It’s astonishing, and a bit sad really, how prescient Real Life was in retrospect. In 1979, Albert Brooks had already predicted and skewered the contrived inauthenticity of reality television with this biting mockumentary, yet we’ve gone ahead and given over much of our entertainment hours to the format anyway. Read full review

Judith Martin

If not new and significant, it's at least a funny attempt to pull off the trick of holding a mirror to our hall of mirrors. [1 June 1979, p.22]

Jay Scott

Brooks' bravery is spiriting; in his debut he has written an unlikeable character doing unlikeable things to likeable people. One wishes his talent as a director matched his chutzpah. [17 Mar 1979]

Roger Ebert

An idea is not enough for a movie. Characters have to be developed, comic situations have to be set up before they can pay off and the story should have a conclusion instead of a dead stop. Real Life fails in all of those areas -- fails so miserably that it lets its audiences down. Read full review

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