Review by Benjamin Poole
Directed by: Pavan Moondi
Starring: Leah Fay Goldstein, Peter Dreimanis, Luke Lalonde
Funny thing, but over this summer I've decided to watch a load of RomComs with the purpose of a) impressing someone in my close family and b) filling a gap in my cinematic knowledge. Calling it the RomComodyssey (the nights just fly in at my place...), the parameters are loosely set: the films must be part of that early 2000s boom, need to have been reasonably popular, and should be strictly generic (so, I dunno, something more playful like 2003's Down With Love wouldn’t make the grade). Watching Middle Life, Pavan Moondi's charming Canadian romantic comedy film, provided a welcome side quest. So far, my understanding of the RomCom is that the mode is hyperbolically idealised, as far removed from the actuality of relationships as the depiction of the education system is in the high-school movie: it provides sleek, variably efficient escapism which reflects craven aspiration rather than bruised practicality. In welcome juxtaposition, what is remarkable and deeply affecting about Middle Life is its low-key humanity, its confidence in its small but meaningful dramas and the raw charisma of its leads to create recognisable conflict and convincing interaction.
It helps that the two leads have a baked in chemistry, with Andie (Leah Fay Goldstein) and Ryan (Peter Dreimanis) being played by IRL members of alternative rock band July Talk, resulting in a for better-or-worse time-honed bond. Within the film's diegesis they meet following a (scarily realised) car accident wherein newly-wed wedding planner Andie essentially saves the life of boyish plumber Ryan and his elderly father. Later, a serendipitous meeting gives way to the two platonically hooking up for a few mate-dates, which, the film and generic expectation teases, may lead to something more romantic...
Matters are complicated by the reality that Andie is married and has a very young boy. Her maternal duties extend to her husband, Chris (Luke Lalonde), who is a manchild: he mansplains the benefits of AI (nowadays, a sure-fire signal that someone is a wrong un) and is deaf to Andie's responses as he is "listening to a podcast" while he pontificates. He seems barely interested in the kid and, cringe, "jerks off" (I love the American for "having a wank", with all the implied idiocy of the action) in the bathroom, making everyone late for work. Regarding employment, I enjoyed the cosy irony of Andie's job: she can barely manage her own marriage, etc (paging Jennifer Lopez circa 2001: I'm learning!). In a class-based juxtaposition, Ryan's job is physical and earthier: at their first coffee meet he extols the wonders of the bidet for the elasticity of the anus, in a manner that is somehow funny and sweet rather than creepily suggestive.
As time goes on (Moondi is very good at pacing the action over a year, with concurrent seasonal changes), Chris is (understandably?) perturbed by his wife's friendship with Ryan (a matter not helped by the latter’s ill-fated impromptu attempt to install a bidet during an awkward dinner party), while Andie is drawn to the silliness and spontaneity of Ryan and his adventurous activity ideas which provide distraction from her moribund marital life. Can-do Ryan is sort of a less-smug Ferris Bueller, who, the film implies following his near-death experience, wants to make the most of life, which manifests in bowling, swimming in freezing rivers, attending auctions. Simple stuff, maybe, but never underestimate how staid conjugal life can be...
Apart from the genuine warmth of its two leads, what renders Middle Life so winning is its emotional honesty. Like with any interpersonal relationship, what initially seems impossibly beatific turns out to be just that: the scales fall from Andie's eyes when she realises Ryan's bravura lack of responsibility, which results in the two being stranded in LA following a spontaneous trip to the city of Angels with no overnight reservation - a nightmare for Andie and indeed anyone civilised (I also appreciated the shade thrown on the town, which is made to look grubby and completely unappealing in comparison to the autumnal tones of Toronto). Regarding the expected push and pull of the RomCom, I was firmly team "won't they" throughout this film. There is a true and unvarnished sense of friendship at the heart of Middle Life, a rarity within a genre which inevitably assumes narratives of heteronormative consummation.
Middle Life is in US cinemas from July 31st. A UK/ROI release has yet to be announced.
