Forgotten Film Friday: Private Life

A retrospective by Brooks Rich

Middle aged childless couple Richard and Rachel are desperate to have a child. They have exhausted every option it seems, fertilization treatment, adoption, everything. In a last desperate effort they ask their niece to be an egg donor, which she immediately agrees to.

Writer director Tamara Jenkins is someone I don't think gets her fair shake. I find honesty in her films. Her slice of life stories feel real, with the perfect blend of comedy, drama, and a little bit of cringe. Much like real life. I'm a big fan of her previous films Slums of Beverly Hills and The Savages. Seek out both especially The Savages. It has the immortal Phillip Seymour Hoffman in it. But I think Private Life is Jenkins best film so far.

Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn are fantastic in this. Hahn gives the performance of her career in this. She is astonishing as Rachel, showing the vulnerability sorrow, hope, and anger that comes with the situation. Jenkins is great at writing real characters and Rachel and Richard are no different. Even the mother of their niece, a fantastic Molly Shannon, is believable in her antagonistic behavior. Yeah we ca see where she is coming from.

So a slight spoiler ahead. Well ok big one. So see the movie if you care. It's on Netflix. But I really want to talk about this one aspect of the movie but I have to spoil it. So stop reading if you care. Last chance. Stop. Spoiler alert.

I like how things don't really work out. Life doesn't always work in our favor and a good movie will reflect that. There is hope in the end but the movie doesn't hand a happy ending over to Richard and Rachel. I really like that. A good bittersweet ending is better than a happy one sometimes. Private Life ends exactly as it should.

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