Title: Lucy Schulman
MPA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Ellie Sachs
Starring: Ellie Sachs, David Cross, Thomas Mann
Runtime: 1 hr 34 mins
What It Is: Lucy (Sachs) has just gone through a crushing breakup with her boyfriend. Now she’s back living with her father (Cross). She’s also trying to navigate life while coming to a ton of certain realizations about herself that aren’t positive reflections but that seem healthy to know. As a new man enters the fray those character flaws also start to show. As normally happens she’s attempting to not sabotage it all, but doesn’t quite know how to not do so.
What We Think: A good little slice of life film. Lucy’s is not an experience I have ever or will ever get to have. Being able to step into those shoes is what makes this all the more interesting. Ellie Sachs is good behind the lens but she’s even better in front of it. I love the slickness of her choices but more than anything else it’s Sachs’ vulnerability as Lucy that really hits home. Without that this thing easily could’ve fallen to the wayside. She keeps us engaged with everything by being smart as a director and witty as her character. Overall this is an easy to watch film with a protagonist that’s easy to root for.
Our Grade: B+, I have to say, I never suspected Thomas Mann would make an acceptable or endearing romantic partner. Man am I glad to be wrong. When you look at his early performance in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl you see some seeds of it but this is so unlike anything like this. It’s far from perfect structurally but a good comedy uses what it has to make things happen. Sachs’ script is highly underrated and tells a modern woman’s story. One who’s deeply flawed but otherwise always in her own way. Check this one out.