Real Life poster & wallpaper

Albert Brooks, Charles Grodin, Dick Haynes

Just as The Twelve Chairs is one of Mel Brooks's least-known movies and most deserving of rediscovery, so is Real Life, the first feature film by Albert Brooks (no relation), a buried ...( read more  read more... )treasure.

An expansion of one of the short films Brooks created for the inaugural season of Saturday Night Live (and when will someone release those on video?), Real Life takes its cue from An American Family, the landmark 1973 PBS documentary that unflinchingly captured on film the life and gradual dissolution of the wildly dysfunctional Loud family. As a satire of the media's intrusion into our lives, it would make an ideal double-feature with The Truman Show.

Brooks stars as himself, a comedian who, he states, would have been a scientist had he "studied harder or been graded more fairly." Though obliviously unqualified, he is spearheading a project that endeavors to capture a year in the life of a typical American family.

Charles Grodin stars as put-upon Warren Yeager, the Phoenix, Arizona, veterinarian who watches helplessly as the callous Brooks overwhelms his life. (At one point, Brooks makes an entrance in a clown suit to cheer up the depressed brood.) Frances Lee McCain costars as Grodin's wife, who develops a crush on Brooks. "I'm a shallow fellow," he insincerely dissuades her.

This docu-comedy is vintage Brooks, but so dryly deadpan that the uninitiated might not be in on the joke. Among the scenes that are classics in the Brooks canon are his hilariously inappropriate production number that launches the film (he belts out "Something's Gotta Give" to the locals), his cheery dismissal of the unnecessary but union-imposed film crew ("See you at the premiere!"), the revelation that Mrs. Yeager's gynecologist is a notorious "baby broker" previously exposed on 60 Minutes, and the increasingly fractious production meetings in which an old-Hollywood producer (listening in on speaker phone) insists that Brooks cast James Caan as a neighbor.

Real Life was cowritten by Monica Johnson, who later collaborated with Brooks on Modern Romance, Lost in America, The Scout, Mother, and Harry Shearer (from another classic mockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap), who also appears as Pete the cameraman. --Donald Liebenson

Flixster Users

78% liked it

925 ratings

PG, 98 min.

Directed by: Albert Brooks

Release Date: March 2, 1979

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: February 13, 2001

Stats: 60 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites
report incorrect info

Photos

None yet... Got one?

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (60)

  • rubystevens
    April 4, 2009
    rubystevens
    20 years before reality tv, albert brooks destroyed the lives of a phoenix family in this hilarious mockumentary
  • ileo
    April 22, 2008
    ileo
    Absolutely great!
  • cacutshaw
    February 13, 2008
    cacutshaw
    Albert Brooks can just look into the camera and I crack up. Here he is at his best, doing a reality show (far ahead of it's time) on Charles Grodin's family. Brook's ego demands that he take center stage (shades of Michael Moore?) and he winds up distorting the reality of what ...( read more)he is filming. Very prophetic along with being very, very funny.
    "The house is really burning!"
  • bjaccobs
    March 9, 2009
    bjaccobs
    Albert Brooks plays Albert Brooks, a filmmaker who decides to make a reality movie about the day to day life of an American family.
    This movie was a head of it's time. A satire about the fascination with reality shows and it's funny.
  • WGNNickD
    May 5, 2006
    WGNNickD
    The 1st of the Brooks masterworks. Hysterical and way ahead of its time.

View All Real Life Reviews

Critic Reviews

No recent reviews.

Comments

This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "Real Life" !

Post A Comment | View All Comments

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Official Trailer

View Larger Real Life Trailer

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • Best in Show
    Best in Show (0%)
  • For Your Consideration
    For Your Consideration (0%)
  • Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
    Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (0%)
  • Being There
    Being There (0%)

More Movies like Real Life

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

Real Life : Watch Free on TV

Real Life Trivia

  • It was claimed that at the time the real life gangster Jimmy Burke was so happy to have Robert De Niro play him that he phoned him from prison to give him a few pointers  Answer »
  • which two actresses have won Academy Awards by portraying real life Country Singers?  Answer »
  • When Macaulay Culkin starred in the first ever Home Alone, the character he was playing was 8 years old. In real life, what was Macaulay's age?  Answer »
  • In the film 'Forrest Gump', is the girl in the school bus with the red hair 'Tom Hanks's' daughter in real life?  Answer »
More Real Life Trivia

Movie Quizzes

No quizzes for Real Life. Want to create one?

Video Clips

No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Meet Other Fans

Add Real Life to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?