1979 Movie
Dir. Albert Brooks · United States of America · English
This mockumentary about a regular family is as prescient as it is hilarious
Before the advent of cruel reality shows and their doomed attempts at realism, and before shows and movies like The Office and Borat made mockumentary the popular genre that it is today, there was a little Albert Brooks film called Real Life. In it, Brooks plays a version of himself obsessed with portraying the “real life” of a classic American family on film, and yet whenever he feels bored, he can’t help but meddle and poke at his subjects to start a fire. The results are unexpected. The humor is quick and deadpan. The satire is sharp and frighteningly prescient. It’s the perfect movie about how truth—no matter how hard we try—can never really be captured in a form like film. All the while Brooks keeps you on your toes with his razor-sharp script. Your favorite mockumentary films will suddenly feel small after watching this underrated great.
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".
Obsessed with capturing the real life of an ordinary American family on film, Albert Brooks plays an oversized narcissistic version of himself and follows the Yeagers during their day-to-day activities in a small town in Phoenix.
A lot of it is satire, but it’s scary how correct some of its prediction is about, say, digital filmmaking and studios’ unwavering dedication to money over art.
Despite the popularity of the pseudo-docu genre, only a few films can hold a candle to this underrated classic.
Renee Cuisia is the lead curator at A Good Movie to Watch. In her spare time, she likes to watch K-dramas and analyze them to death. She's also seen You've Got Mail one too many times but is still convinced it's one of the greatest films out there.
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