‘Fantasy Life’ Review: Amanda Peet Shines In “Emotionally Resonant” Comedy

Now playing in theaters, Fantasy Life is a comedy that is written and directed by Matthew Shear. Currently it’s certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a 79% rating, and CinemAddicts podcast host Bruce Purkey delivers an in-depth review in our post. Check out the video for further insight into this movie which co-stars Amanda Peet, Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch, Bob Balaban, and Andrea Martin!

Fantasy Life centers on Sam Stein (Matthew Shear), a neurotic guy who becomes a nanny to his psychiatrist’s three granddaughters. Sam bonds with the girls’ mother Dianne (Amanda Peet), a talented actress whose career is at a crossroads. Alessandro Nivola co-stars as David, a rock bassist who is Dianne’s husband and Judd Hirsch is Sam’s psychiatrist.

Co-host Bruce Purkey likened the movie to a Woody Allen comedy, and cinephiles who love his work may gravitate to Fantasy Life. For Purkey, the “true revelation” of the film was Amanda Peet.

 ”She is just fantastic and Peet has the perfect level of kind of pathos and world weariness,” said Purkey. “And you get the humor from her too. (Plus), she’s not a mean or or pompous person at all. She is really way more down to earth than you expect her to be.”

Bruce gave the mainly New York set Fantasy Life a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ rating. ” It’s really good and hopefully it will catch some audiences out there,” said Purkey. “It’s a hard sell for kind of middle America, but if you are missing acceptable versions of what Woody Allen used to throw down to some degree, I think this is maybe somewhere you can go to get that.”

Check out Bruce’s full review on YouTube or listen to his take on CinemAddicts:

Share your thoughts on Fantasy Life in the comments!