-PJ Gach
Families that create movies, and no, I’m not talking about home movies (that’s a circle of hell I won’t go near) fall into two categories: creeptastic disasters that make you hide under your chair until the flick is over, or multi-layered storytelling that sings its way into you heart. “A Year of Spectacular Men,” is the latter.

Slightly offbeat, a bit quirky, intelligently written, and with scenes you swore were lifted from your own life, mother Lea Thompson, father Howard Deutch (one of the producers), and daughters Madelyn and Zoey Deutch made a movie that is so smartly done, you’ll want to re-see it just for the pleasure you find in its characters.

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Thompson, not her first time directing, shows a deft hand in letting the story playout. No telegraphing, no pat happy endings, this is a story that rings true. Written by Madelyn, “A Year of Spectacular Men” tells the tale of Izzy Klein (Madelyn) and the Klein family (Zoey and Lea). Thompson also plays Deb; the women’s mother and a yogi who has now taken on a young woman lover

Izzy graduates college in New York City and finds herself at loose ends. Career issues, relationship issues, issue issues, yup, Izzy has them Her younger sister Sabrina (Zoey) on the other hand, has a thriving film career, a doting actor boyfriend (Avan Jogia), and her own home.

Izzy ends up in Los Angeles, perched in her sister’s bedroom as she attempts to start an acting career and find the right guy.  Obsessed with The X Files, when things go south for Izzy, she holes up in the guest bedroom and continuously binge watches the show. During a party where she gets to meet the people behind her favorite show---her reason for living as it were, she dumps the party, the chance at meeting them and connecting with an important agent because, yes, you guessed it, she met a guy.

That one scene encapsulates your 20s. You’re lost, you’re floundering, you have no idea what you’re supposed to do in life; what’s a career anyway, and how do you find one? However, your hormones are raging, growing up rom-coms, Disney movies that extoll coupledom and TV shows that highlight relationships, when stuck in situations, if you meet a guy (or a girl), you don’t listen to your head. Nope. If your vagina (or penis) says to you, “OOOH! That’s hot!” You’re so outta there, that you miss the wind from your exit.

And that’s the twenties that Izzy, no, sorry, Madelyn Deutch captures so perfectly. We’re told that once we graduate college, we will know who we are, we will have a wonderful career and a stellar life. Most of us are flopping around like landed fish trying to get through the day. Often, we’re distracted by the siren song of our vaginas screaming to be laid. What? You only thought men were driven by sex? Pah!

One of the many joys of this movie is that the sex scenes are awkward and hilarious. And yes, sex can be awkward and embarrassing, especially the first time you sleep with someone. And these scenes can bring back memories, and laughter. Lots of laughter. After watching one of the sex scenes, you’ll be more careful about cleaning your bedroom floor.

The Golden Klein family; successful actress Sabrina, on-my-way Izzy, and Deb, the successful yogi has a family tragedy that they cannot deal with at all. One daughter is taught a fairy tale, while the other daughter knows the truth. And when the truth comes out, it seems natural, not forced…. kudos to Madelyn for creating a really strong script.

While some people are naming “A Year” a rom-com because Izzy seems to leap from man to man, it’s not. It’s an anti-rom com. The message of the movie is more that life is a journey that doesn’t need a happy ending instead of the idea that happy endings trump everything else.

Like the old people say, “As long as you have your health, your family and yourself, life will be okay.”