Real Life (1979)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Albert Brooks

Writers:

Albert Brooks (written by)
Monica Mcgowan Johnson (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

23 March 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A pushy, narcissistic filmmaker persuades a Phoenix family to let he and his crew film their everyday lives...

Plot Keywords:

Reference To Paul Newman | Veterinarian | Film Maker | Film In Film | Suburb

Cast

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
Lisa Urette	...	Lisa Yeager
Robert Stirrat	...	Eric Yeager
Dudley DeZonia	...	Felton Family Member
Barbara DeZonia	...	Felton Family Member
Carolyn Silas	...	Felton Family Member
Adam Grant	...	Felton Family Member
Belle Richter	...	Jeannette's Mother
Jerry Jensen	...	Jeannette's Father
Michele Grace	...	Nurse
Thelma Leeds	...	Margaret (as Thelma Bernstein)
Johnny Haymer	...	Dr. Maxwell Rennert
Nudie	...	Horse Owner
Charles H. Reid	...	Assistant Surgeon
Susan Clark	...	Nurse
Ward Rodgers	...	Minister
David Spielberg	...	Dr. Jeremy Nolan
Julie Payne	...	Dr. Anne Kramer
Jennings Lang	...	Martin Brand
Leo McElroy	...	Jim Sanders
Carlos Jurado	...	Reporter
S.W. Smith	...	Second Reporter
Fred Wolfson	...	Third Reporter
Norman Bartold	...	Dr. Isaac Steven Hayward
Harry Shearer	...	Pete
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mort Lindsey	...	Himself

Directed by
Albert Brooks

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Albert Brooks		written by
Monica Mcgowan Johnson		written by
Harry Shearer		written by

Produced by
Norman Epstein	....	executive producer
Jonathan Kovler	....	executive producer
Penelope Spheeris	....	producer

Original Music by
Mort Lindsey

Cinematography by
Eric Saarinen

Film Editing by
David Finfer

Art Direction by
Linda Marder
Linda Spheeris

Makeup Department
Kathryn Logan	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Rafael Elortegui	....	second assistant director
David McGiffert	....	first assistant director

Art Department
John Crawford	....	special props

Sound Department
Crew Chamberlain	....	boom operator
Robert Knudson	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Robert Knudsen)
Michael C. Moore	....	sound

Special Effects by
Richard Albain	....	special effects (as Dick Albain)

Visual Effects by
Mark Jaffe	....	computer graphics artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Dennis Bishop	....	gaffer
Michael Bowe	....	best boy
Frederick Elmes	....	additional photographer
Kit Kalionzes	....	assistant camera
Michael Katz	....	key grip
Larry Snodgrass	....	second assistant camera
Andy Spheeris	....	additional grip
Kevin Williams	....	additional grip

Casting Department
Norman Knight	....	extras casting

Editorial Department
Barbara Bloom	....	post-production secretary
Eric Jenkins	....	associate editor
Mary Nelson-Duerrstein	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Ken Johnson	....	music editor

Other crew
Terry Carr	....	pre-production secretary
Don Cirillo	....	unspecified assistant
Robert Furst	....	production assistant
Betty Goldberg	....	script supervisor
Tom Mickel	....	location assistant
Diane Quinn	....	production assistant
Ky Richards III	....	location assistant
Lois Stirrat	....	production accountant

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1979) (USA) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Pacific Title  titles and opticals
• Ryder Sound Services  transfer services
• Todd-AO Studios  mixing services

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The film is based on "An American Family" (1973).

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.

Movie Connections:

References Gone with the Wind (1939)

Soundtrack:

Jump Into The Fire

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. (***)