Real Life (1979)

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, ... See full summary »

Director:

Albert Brooks

Writers:

Albert Brooks, Monica Mcgowan Johnson,

Stars:

Dick Haynes, Albert Brooks, Matthew Tobin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dick Haynes	...	Councilman Harris
Albert Brooks	...	Albert Brooks
Matthew Tobin	...	Dr. Howard Hill
J.A. Preston	...	Dr. Ted Cleary
Joseph Schaffler	...	Paul Lowell
Phyllis Quinn	...	Donna Stanley
James Ritz	...	Jack from Cincinnati
Clifford Einstein	...	Role Reversal Family Member
Harry Einstein	...	Role Reversal Family Member
Mandy Einstein	...	Role Reversal Family Member
Karen Einstein	...	Role Reversal Family Member
James L. Brooks	...	Driving Evaluator
Zeke Manners	...	Driver
Charles Grodin	...	Warren Yeager
Frances Lee McCain	...	Jeannette Yeager

Storyline

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 the good of the show".

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Plot Keywords:

filmmaker | satire | fictional reality show | suburb | hidden camera | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 March 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Aus dem Leben gegriffen

Filming Locations:

Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the reasons Albert Brooks wanted to cast Charles Grodin as the father was because of Grodin's work on Candid Camera. Brooks felt that Grodin would look like he wasn't acting, because on the TV show he had to fool ordinary people into believing that he wasn't acting.

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Quotes

Martin Brand: [on speakerphone] Albert, may I interrupt for one minute please? People aren't gonna walk out of a theater saying, "I don't like that guy... that guy that holds the cup with one hand, with two hands ... "
Albert Brooks: Absolutely.
Martin Brand: I'll tell you what they DO have a good chance of saying: "Where the hell is Paul Newman? Where's Redford? Where's Nicholson?" Believe me they prefer Nicholson with the cup than the cup with the other guy.

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Connections

References Jaws (1975)

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Soundtracks

"Tara Theme"
Written by Max Steiner

User Reviews

An experiment gone crazy...

Local 'madness' in an Arizona small, one horse town. Based on a show shot in Santa Barbara California in 73' a first reality show, that went horribly wrong! It was a hit, but the family was never the same. This is an off the cuff answer to that first reality show, that I believe may have gone lost in translation.

Sure this starts out interesting and goes right along, showing a small Arizona Phoenix as the place where the real family will be followed by a camera and crew, in the home, in their lives and all over the place. It seems at times so depressing and so real in parts... that it hurts just watching. That's not bad when it seems that it is real. Brooks has a creative and wild mind. With it all some how he can lose people in his presentation. It isn't that he is not talented, he just sees things through a different ' lens ' than most average do.

If more people had been informed of why and how the movie came about, I think it would have done better at the theater. Albert Brooks is an entertaining creative craftsman and his work and acting shows to those who can follow what he is about.

I recommend this movie for it's madness and reality type-lore but the fun part is seeing the Arizona from the seventies and how different it is today. Brooks will always be good at his job I believe, but you have to understand the mind from which it comes. (***)