The Year of Spectacular Men

What a nice little surprise this was! "The Year of Spectacular Men" is a heartening comedy-drama that espouses some truths about life and relationships that anyone of any age can relate to, not just Millennials.

I must admit I was a bit skeptical about seeing this movie after having read the synopsis in the press release. To me, it sounded like a million other movies I had seen about aimless youths trying to find their way in the world. No new ground was going to be covered, and this would be a tame, lackluster experience.

Truth be told, that's how "The Year of Spectacular Men" started. As the movie opens, things do not seem to be going well for NYC twenty-something Izzy Klein (screenwriter Madelyn Deutch). She's about to graduate from college, has no direction or prospects to speak of, and she's just broken up with her douche of a boyfriend, Aaron (dreamy Jesse Bradford).

Seemingly to pass the time, Izzy takes an acting class and meets Ross (Cameron Monaghan), your typical Brooklyn hipster. That goes nowhere. Her movie star sister, Sabrina (real-life movie star sister Zoey Deutch), in town for a photo shoot, is supportive of Izzy, as a loving and caring sister should be, but even she eventually tires of Izzy's general lack of motivation. After a while, so did I. Listen, a wayward couple of years is almost a rite of passage for post-graduates and can be good for some needed soul-searching. However, that doesn't necessarily make for an interesting character. Izzy just kind of sulks around, doing a whole lot of nothing for almost the entire first half of the movie. I was becoming very nervous that the remainder of the movie was going to turn into Izzy wandering the streets of NYC looking for meaning. That would have been torturous.

But then a funny thing happens: Izzy moves to LA to stay with her sister and give the acting thing a shot, and suddenly the movie springs to life. The focus is still on Izzy and her quest for meaning, but the story opens up to exploring the relationship between Izzy and Sabrina, between the two girls and their mother (director and the Deutch's real-life mom, Lea Thompson), who has just begun a relationship with the hilariously new agey Amythyst (Melissa Bolo�a), and between Izzy and a few of the guys she encounters along the way. "The Year of Spectacular Men" makes a full 180 from mopey bore about a whiny Millennial to a sincere and tender drama about finding one's path and the relationships that we encounter in life that lift us up, try to hold us down, and bring us strength when we need it the most.

Madelyn Deutch's script is refreshingly perceptive in a way that only a Millennial writing about a Millennial can be: Full of genuine and humorous observations not manufactured for drama's sake, but that abound from a place of truth rather than contrivance. It helps that the film is very much a family affair, as the three lead actresses exhibit a natural chemistry that comes across as very warm, which is in sync with the character each plays. Lea Thompson, in her feature directorial debut, composes a technically lovely film, and although she allows some scenes to go on too long after having made their dramatic point, Thompson is a confident leader behind the camera (although it must have been just a little weird for her to direct her daughter in Izzy's several sex scenes).

Like the movie itself, Madelyn Deutch, as an actress, starts the film as whiny and sullen but comes alive in the second half when her inner spirit strengthens. Zoey Deutch hams it up during some funny moments but is also quite effective in her more dramatic scenes later on. It is wonderful to see Lea Thompson, one of the silver screen staples of my own childhood, on screen again, and she doesn't disappoint. As any good daughter would, Madelyn Deutch gives her mom some meaty moments to sink her teeth into.

This is an intimate movie and will perhaps play better on Netflix or the like rather than in the theater. "The Year of Spectacular Men" may not be the "Singles" for the millennial set, but it is a poignant, smart and perceptive outing from one of the generation's own.