Director Report Card: Tamara Jenkins (2018)

3. Private Life

Netflix has, for better or worse, delivered the future of cinema. The streaming giant changed the way we watch movies and, depending on where the pieces fall after the pandemic is over, might be the primary way we watch them in the future. As movie studios decide they’d rather make a billion dollars with one 200-million-dollar movie, instead of making 200 million with ten three-million-dollar movies, the mid-tier studio drama is practically extinct. Seeing a market in need of exploiting - or just hoping to win themselves some Oscar prestige - Netflix has thrown money at a few auteurs. At least this is how I assume Tamara Jenkins' third film. "Private Life," ended up being a Netflix original. 

Richard and Rachel are trying to have a baby. Richard and Rachel have been trying to have a baby for years now. Their latest attempt involves expensive fertility drugs, which does little to help, while also working on adoption. At the same time, Richard's niece Sadie is having troubles with her mom. After dropping out of school, Sadie ends up living with her uncle and aunt. The couple touch upon the idea to have Sadie be their egg donor. (Which would raise their chances of success from 4 to 60 percent.) Everyone, with the exception of Sadie's parents, likes the idea... But things will not go as smoothly as the couple hopes. 

"Private Life" is another Tamara Jenkins film, essentially, about adults having a mid-life crisis. Rachel and Richard have become obsessed with the idea of having a baby. Their sex life is suffering. Their relationship is strained, as every waking moment is fixated on this goal. Both are suffering from the constant messages that something is wrong with their bodies, something is wrong with them. As they both vocalize throughout the film, they feel like there is something they have to do and time is very quickly running out. This mirror Sadie's quarter-life crisis, as she struggles to forge her own identity and figure out how to navigate the world. All the central characters are gripped by this idea that they have to desperately get their shit together before it's too late.

Yet, as the two try to become literal parents, they come closer than either realize to being symbolic parents. Sadie's actual mother wants to micro-manage her life. Rachel and Richard, meanwhile, offer her relative freedom to figure things out on her own. The loving bond they form is obviously parental. There's some definite dramatic irony in the story of a couple trying to become actual parents, ending up as round-about parents anyway. This isn't the only twist on parenthood that "Private Life" offers, as all of its main characters are creative types also trying to birth successful fiction. It's a film acutely concerned with the act of creating and becoming.

It's also pretty funny, in the slice-of-life, neurotic way that characterized Jenkins' other movies. Richard and Rachel's quest to become parents puts them in many awkward situations. Such as Richard, sitting in the clinic's room devoted to procuring a sperm sample, being increasingly underwhelmed with the selection of pornography. Or Rachel's doctor, as he prepares to take an egg sample, deciding to flick on some prog-rock. The journey to find a donor brings up a lot of insecurities, Rachel triggering several very personal arguments in very public places. (This seems to be a reoccurring feature of Jenkins' films.) Ultimately, the funniest moment in the film occurs when Sadie announces her donor status around the Thanksgiving table. An argument, involving the furious slicing of a turkey, goes on in the other room while another family member attempts a solemn speech about his sobriety. 

Yet, as funny as "Private Life," it's also a deeply sad movie. Like all of Jenkins' films, the movie is frequently episodic. (Which also causes me to suspect, like her last two movies, there's a degree of autobiographical elements here as well.) As in real life, the film's funny episodes often co-exist alongside its sad ones. One of the most affecting moments concerns a girl Rachel and Richard previously chose as their adoption donor. The two forged a loving bond before the girl disappeared, cutting off all contact with them. Jenkins depicts this crushing disappointment as intimately depicted flashbacks, as Paul Giamatti calmly delivers a quietly sad monologue about the events. 

Something else linking "Private Life" and "The Savages" is the way both films pay attention to the passing of the seasons. A key, early scene takes place around Halloween. The crisp autumn air is so keenly established, adding greatly to the movie's particular atmosphere. This also makes room for Thanksgiving, that most anxious of all late-in-the-year traditions. Which Jenkins capitalizes on with increased familial tension. The film carries through to winter and Christmas, adding extra seasonal flavoring to the proceedings. To show that Jenkins really gets it, she circles back around to Halloween for the movie's final moments. I like that. 

“Private Life” is largely built around a trio of wonderful performances. Katherine Hahn stars as Rachel. Rachel is, considering the pressure she's under and the role hormones plays in her life, prone to emotional outbursts. Her arguments with her husband tend to be very intense indeed. Yet Hahn never plays the character as a caricature, a screaming emotional woman. Instead, Rachel is deeply wounded by imperfections largely perceived by her. More than anyone else, she feels like time is running out for her, for her chance to self-realize as a fully formed adult. Hahn shows all these complexities with humor and depth.

Starring opposite Hahn is Paul Giamatti as Richard. Giamatti is playing very much to type here. Richard is neurotic and prone to grousing. He's sexual in a very nerdy way, often wearing his desires out in an unseemly manner. Yet he's also got a big heart, watching out for his wife as they struggle through this difficult time. The character is also more relaxed in his own skin than Rachel, enough that you can believable his niece would consider him the “cool” uncle. Giamatti, of course, is extremely good at mixing together a character's unlikable qualities with an off-beat sense of humor. He provides most of the movie's laughs as well as much of its big heart.

The third performance that makes “Private Life” special is Kayli Carter as Sadie. A relative newcomer, Carter embodies the character's impulsive soul. Sadie sometimes says obnoxious things, just speaking her young mind, not relaxing she's being clueless or insulting. Carter makes sure Sadie is never unlikable for saying these things, that this is simply who she is. As Sadie makes mistakes of her own, Carter can't help but engineer sympathy. The film also includes a stand-out performance from Molly Shannon, as Richard's frequently frustrated sister-in-law, another woman who is just doing what she thinks is best, even if her emotions are a little out-of-control.

“Private Life” also represents a natural evolution of the visual motifs that Jenkins introduced in “The Savages.” Jenkins employs an almost documentary-like immediacy in many of the scenes. In one moment, Rachel stumbles into a desk while walking across a room, which feels so spontaneous I'm half-convinced it was unplanned. The director often employs a handheld style, further cementing this sense of grounded reality. This is especially apparent in several self-contained moment, which seem to capture memories as they are being formed. “Private Life,” rather fittingly, looks and feels like real life.

If "Private Life" has a serious flaw, it's one you could level at "The Savages" and a lot of other prestige indie dramas. This is very much a movie about Rich White People in NYC. Rachel and Richard are not obscenely well-to-do, as it's repeatedly noted that they live in a low-class area. Yet, for struggling creative types, paying the bills never seems to be a problem. They drop a lot of money on expensive medical treatments, the film only briefly acknowledging how this affects their financial life. Sadie is essentially going towards a bohemian life-style. Yet she, nor her aunt or uncle, ever fear that the girl is going to end up homeless. "Private Life" isn't about economic concerns, so it's fine that this is not the focus. Yet it did occasionally take me out of the movie, thinking about how these characters live in a totally different world than mine.

"Private Life" being a Netflix exclusive ended up being a double-edged sword. The platform certainly gave the movie far more exposure than it otherwise would have had. If the number of "For Your Consideration" poster I've seen online are any indication, the company also launched a pricey award season campaign for the film. At the same time, Netflix has a bad habit of bloating their service with content that they do not promote. Subsequently, "Private Life" would be under seen and built little award season buzz, garnering only a couple of nominations. I didn't even know the movie existed before I started to research Jenkins' films. It's a shame, as "Private Life" is a funny and touching dramedy. [Grade: B+]

Tamara Jenkins has made three movies in twenty years. In some ways, I think we're lucky to have the films from her we do. I don't know if Jenkins works at such a slow pace because it's hard for her to procure funding for her projects. I don't know if she only makes a film once a decade because that's just how her creative flow works. Either way, I'm happy that the forces have aligned the times they have for Ms. Jenkins. Her trio of motion pictures are all delightful, nuanced, and wonderfully assembled. I don't know when – or even if – we'll see another movie from her. Yet I certainly hope it comes together. I enjoy the peeks inside her world. 

Director Report Card: Tamara Jenkins (2007)

2. The Savages

I don't know why it took nine years for Tamara Jenkins to make another movie. I can only assume the difficulties of acquiring financing for independent films played a role. Like her first feature, her second would also be distributed by Fox Searchlight. So clearly something worked out about the first time around. Whatever the reason for the delay, it would be worth it. “The Savages” would be beloved by critics. The reception was so positive that Jenkins' film would even earned two Oscar nomination, for Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay. It's the kind of achievement that should've launched its filmmaker to wider success and acclaim. That didn't quite happen but “The Savages” remains a valuable film.

One fine morning in the retirement village he lives in, Lenny Savage writes a fowl word in his own shit. Soon afterwards, his longtime girlfriend dies. Since the two had no legal entanglements, his not-stepkids are eager to get Lenny out. His estranged children, Wendy and Jon, come together to take care of their father. Lenny continues to slip into dementia quickly, forcing the siblings to put him in a home. As they live together in the days following Lenny's move, Wendy and Jon find many of the wounds of their childhood – and the difficult realities of their adult lives – coming to the forefront. 

“The Savages” is about a harsh reality we're all going to deal with eventually. One day, our parents are going to die. The people who have taken care of us, who have – for better or worst – molded us, are going to grow old and frail and fall apart. The film addresses the harsh and ugly truths tied up with this. Wendy feels a flood of guilt, attempting to put her father in a nicer nursing home. Her dad, meanwhile, doesn't seem to recognize her at all most of the time. He yells inappropriately. He pisses and shits his pants. It's the extremely painful experience nobody should have to go through but many of us will have to experience anyway. “The Savages” goes to that difficult place with realism and bravery.

As much as “The Savages” is about the hard truth of dealing with a declining parent, it's as much about the relationship between Jon and Wendy. The added stress of handling their father's health brings out years worth of resentment. Wendy has struggled to become a successful playwright, dealing with countless rejections from institutes and toiling away in piddling temp jobs. Jon is a drama professor, currently attempting to complete an academic study of Bertolt Brecht. Their similar dreams and ambitions put Jon and Wendy in the tricky situation of rooting for and against each other. Both are envious of any successes, both wounded by years of feeling some support or another hasn't been given. Eventually, those feelings overflow into shouting arguments. None of this should be unfamiliar to anyone who has a complicated relationship with a sibling. Nobody knows someone for their whole lives without feeling some resentment towards them.

Yet it's not all long-simmering tension and strained conversations between Wendy and Jon. There's warmth and humor there too. When Wendy comes to stay at Jon's home, she has to move around piles of books. To which he, humorously, insists there's some sort of sense of organization. An attempt to unwind with a tennis game soon goes awry, Jon hurting himself. The next sequence, where Wendy hooks him up to a visibly awkward suspension device, is full of familiar, sweet laughter. As easy as it is for siblings to snipe at each other, you also don't go knowing someone your whole life without having some warm feelings towards them too. “The Savages” beautifully captures the sometimes rough back-and-forth we have with our siblings.

“The Savages” is a movie that is full of awkward situations. Sometimes, the film plays these moments for the most uncomfortable sort of humor. The Savage siblings assemble a screening of “The Jazz Singer” for the nursing home... And can only sit back in discomfort as the sequences of blackface play out before the predominantly black nursing staff. Later, Jon and Wendy have a loud argument about the predatory nature of the nursing home industry in a parking lot. Only before a woman with her elderly parent slowly pushes by them. You definitely cringe a little during these moments but there's humor there too. Because these scenes are too relatable not to find some level of laughs there. 

Mostly, “The Savages” harnesses its uncomfortable situations to create an indelible feeling of sadness. As Wendy tries to lead Lenny to the bathroom while on the plane ride, his pants fall down. A lesser director would've played that for laughs but Jenkins feels too keenly for her characters not to play this moment for tragedy. Wendy attempts to find a special pillow she bought her dad, grabbing it away from a crying old woman... Only to discover that her dad doesn't want the pillow anyway. There's a similar energy to a moment where Wendy attempts to kiss an orderly, only for him to gently push her away. It's all feels so real, so painful, as to be almost intolerable.

This kind of bristling material lives and dies depending on the strength of the actors involved. Luckily, Jenkins found two wonderful performers to star as the sibling. Laura Linney brings the appropriate complexity to Wendy. She's a woman going through a mid-life crisis. She's sleeping with a married man. Sometimes, she tells lies in order to gain sympathy or attention. She casually pops pills, depending on them for relief in a way that suggest a low-key addiction. There's definitely something desperate about her attempt to get her autobiographical play produced. Linney never plays Wendy as only pathetic or broken. She's complicated and Linney grants her the honor of that complexity.

Starring opposite Linney is Philip Seymour Hoffman as Jon. If Wendy wears her insecurities on her sleeve, Jon often obscures his feelings behind a stoic exterior. When Wendy asks if he's ever going to marry his longtime girlfriend, Jon is evasive. While Wendy is increasingly shaken or in denial about dad's condition, Jon accepts it immediately. In the last act, even after receiving news that Lenny has passed, Jon remains quiet in front of his classroom. Hoffman doesn't play the character as cruel but as so tightly wound, that he's fearful he'd unravel totally if any emotion was let through. He also brings a certain degree of dryly comedic sarcasm to the part. “The Savages” was released the same year as “Before the Devil Knows Your Dead,” another Philip Seymour Hoffman movie about siblings.

Another interesting element of “The Savages” is how self-reflective it is. Throughout the film, Wendy is insecure about her play being about upper middle-class, white angst. One can't help but imagine Jenkins is commenting on her own film here. This is far from the only reference to pop culture mediums in “The Savages.” A support group for people with senile family members suggest watching an old movie to connect the person with their past. Lenny relates so much to “The Jazz Singer,” that he starts to believe it's a document of his own childhood. A conversation between Wendy and her boyfriend directly references “The Blue Angel.” Jon's fixation on Brecht, who he references as a writer who didn't give people happy endings, seems to reflect his own attitudes about life. How we use art to relate to our own lives is wrapped up inside  'The Savages.”

Another element floating at “The Savages'” margins is how animals help us process our feelings. Wendy's married boyfriend always drags his elderly dog with him on their dates. During an especially unenthusiastic love making session, Wendy reaches out and touches the sad dog's paw. She also has a cat, named Genghis the Beast, that she relates to throughout the film. She brings the cat to visit her father in the nursing home, the animal forming a bond of sorts with the elderly man. Animals provide stability for the characters during their roughest moments, giving love and support that was sorely lacking from their father. 

In “The Savages,” we also see Jenkins' visual sense developing. The film begins with idyllic footage of life in the retirement village. It's bright and sunny, as smiling faces frolic in various ways. This contrasts strongly with the rest of the film, which is set in overcast cities. Jenkins makes you feel the warmth of those initial senses, as well as the chilliness of the rest of the movie. This seems an illustration of the sunniness we hope our latter years will be filled with and the far grimmer reality of the situation.

“The Savages'” overwhelmingly positive reception and its Oscar nominations for Linney and Jenkins' screenplay brought a level of acclaim the director hadn't yet seen in their career. Nowadays, when people revisit the film, it's almost always seen as a tribute to what a wonderful talent the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman was. I suppose that's unavoidable, when a beloved performer that died too young himself starred in a movie about dying. “The Savages” is funny and sad in equal doses. More than anything else, it's a deeply humane film, grappling with universal truths and giving its characters flaws and quirks that make them seem all the more real. [Grade: B+]

Director Report Card: Tamara Jenkins (1998)

Even among big movie buffs, Tamara Jenkins is not a name that's especially well-known. Since getting her start in the mid-nineties, she's only made three movies. Her name does not appear on many lists of well-known woman directors. (And she's not related to the previously covered Patty Jenkins.) While all of her movies have been well-received, it's hard to say that any of them are classics exactly. Yet each one of her highly autobiographic indie dramadies are absolutely worth seeking out. I like to think this brief Director Report Card will be shining a light on a filmmaker who deserves more attention.

1. Slums of Beverly Hills

Writer/director Tamara Jenkins was born in Philly to a Jewish father and an Italian-American mother. Her dad used to own a nightclub. After her parents separated, she lived with her father and brothers in Beverly Hills. Eventually, Jenkins' oldest brother would have to take custody of Tamara and her siblings, suggesting the situation was pretty dysfunctional. Years later, Jenkins would draw on these very personal memories for her feature debut. “Slums of Beverly Hills” is also about a Jewish girl living with her brothers and recently divorced, former nightclub owner father in Beverly Hills. While not especially popular upon release in 1998, “Slums of Beverly Hills” has attracted a dedicated audience of defenders over the years.

Vivian Abromowitz doesn't like her family much. Her father is a failed used car salesman,. Her older brother, Ben, is a hopelessly nerdy wannabe actor. Vivian has recently turned fourteen and suddenly grown large breasts, much to her embarrassment. Dad wakes her up in the middle of the night and moves the whole family unexpectedly into a cheap apartment complex in lower Beverly Hills. Around the same time Rita, Vivian's cousin and a recovering drug addict, arrives to live with them. Her father receives an allowance from his rich brother to make sure Rita is getting her life back on track. Vivian bonds with the troubled Rita and attempts to navigate the difficult waters of adolescence. 

“Slums of Beverly Hills” is a movie about familial bonds. The Abromowitz reluctantly refer to themselves as nomads on a few occasions. Because of his precarious financial straits, the family never stays in one place very long. This has certainly left Vivian in an awkward situation, further compounded by the dorkiness of her brothers. Ultimately, however, the Abromowitz only have themselves. The climax re-enforces the idea that these misfits really only have each other to rely on. The film comes full circle in a charming way, nailing this idea home without overdoing it too much. Vivian's family may be dysfunctional and she may not always like them but these are the people that love her and she loves them. 

Jenkins' film is also a coming-of-age story, touching on many of the themes you expect from the genre. Vivian is coming to grips with her changing body, with her growing sexuality. She is insecure about her breasts and the attention they draw, considering getting a reduction all throughout the film. She has a flirtatious relationship with Elliot, a teenage drug dealer living in the apartment. Obsessed with Charles Manson and believing himself to be way cooler than he is, Elliot is nevertheless attractive to Vivian because he's available and low-stakes. Rita introduces Vivian to her vibrator, which truly makes an impression on the girl. The film is a funny, touchingly candid portrayal of a young woman dipping her toes into the world of adult relationships.

“The Slums of Beverly Hills” was obviously more than a little autobiographical for Jenkins. The writer/director had star Natasha Lyonne wear the large, fake breasts in public, to give her a taste of what it would be like actually looking like that. So I suspect the subplot about Vivian's boobs reflects some personal experience of Jenkins'. Vivian is told that this is a trait she inherited from her (kept totally off-screen) mother. It's a part of her legacy. The film similarly approaches her Jewish heritage. Very little explicit attention is drawn to Vivian's cultural background. Yet so much about the characters – their appearance, their speech, their attitudes about fine dining – speaks to an inherent Jewishness. Much like her bra size, Vivian is clearly ambivalent to her background at first but eventually realizes that the things she carries with from her parents are part of who she is too. 

Jenkins tells this story with a light comedic touch. She orchestrates a number of amusing comedic episodes. “The Slums of Beverly Hills” is especially good at jokes that escalate, creating more laughs as they go on. When Rita introduces Vivian to her vibrator, that slowly becomes a dance number set to Parliament's “Give Up the Funk,” which then ends in just about the most awkward way imaginable. This is far from the only example of “Slums of Beverly Hills” mining the awkwardness of Vivian's transition into womanhood for laughs. When getting her period at her father's girlfriend's house, she's introduces to an antiquated tampon belt that is frankly horrifying. The stand-out comedic sequence of the film occurs when Rita is discovered unconscious in the apartment, more and more inconveniences piling atop each other in a likably mad cap fashion. 

If you watch “The Slums of Beverly Hills” for no other reason, I'd recommend watching it for Natasha Lyonne's lead performance. Filmed around the same time as “But I'm a Cheerleader!,” Lyonne makes a real impression. She adapts a totally convincing East Coast accent, making her stick out even more in the West Coast setting. From her stiff body language on down, she does everything she can to convey the character's awkwardness. Yet Vivian isn't defined solely by her teenage misery. Lyonne brilliantly brings Vivian's defiant side to life too, showing her as a character attempting to define herself in a constricting world. I don't know how Lyonne didn't become a huge star after a performance like this.

Jenkins didn't just find the right young actress to star in her film. The supporting cast is full of talented, familiar faces too. Alan Arkin is frequently hilarious as Vivian's dad. He's clearly a man that has created an elaborate mythology around himself in his head, to make up for the frequently pathetic reality. Arkin does a good job of showing both sides of this, as a man desperately attempting to prove himself but frequently held back by all the mistakes he's made. David Krumholtz is amusing as the frequently selfish older brother, who seems hopelessly optimistic about his own future. Kevin Corrigan does a good job of striking a balance between sleazy weirdo and genuinely concerned outsider as Elliot. Jenkins also includes amusing last act cameos from Carl Reiner and Rita Moreno.

Marissa Tomie is, as you'd probably expect, fantastic as Rita. She's manic when need be, while suggesting the intense angst the character feels all the time that pushes her towards such extreme actions. Yet I wish that subplot was a little more developed. We only ever get hints of Rita's story. She obviously has some sort of boyfriend, whom we never actually meet on-screen. He seems to randomly abandon her, exacerbating Rita's dependence on drugs. Rita's problems eventually get too much to handle, forcing her not-so-dramatic exit from the film. I wish we got a little more of her story. I understand that this is ultimately Vivian's tale but Rita's subplot is a little underdeveloped, when there was obviously plenty of material here to beef it up.

“Slums of Beverly Hills” is largely a comedy, with many dramatic moments. Yet one moment is clearly more severe than any of the others. Vivian's father and Rita have a conversation in the middle of the night, that Vivian spies on. While wallowing in his latest pity party, Murray reaches over and gropes Rita. It's not a moment that film draws a lot of attention to. It acknowledges that this previously lovable, if troubled, character did something monumentally shitty. Rita seems to shrug it off, Vivian has to accept it. That's a hard truth we all have to struggle with: Sometimes the people we love do fucked-up things. How do we grapple with that? The film doesn't have any concrete answers. We just have to live with it sometimes.

Tamara Jenkins clearly isn't just a strong writer. “Slums of Beverly Hills” is also a really strong visual film. The editing is razor sharp, often punctuating the comedic beats. The film also makes excellent use of its seventies setting. The production design is very good. The shag carpenter and puke-orange colors, that distinctive 1970s aesthetics, is perfectly captured. The fashion is similarly garish, in that immediately recognizable style. It's an obvious statement to say that the filmmaker actually lived through this decade. The amount of detail in every set, in all the surroundings, is apparent. 

That attention to period accuracy is also obvious in the soundtrack. The film is filled with the radio hits of the day. You'll recognize songs from Three Dog Night, the Bellamy Brothers, Ike and Tina Turner, and Perry Como. The curation of songs is generally very good. Less memorable is the score. Rolfe Kent's score is a little too on-the-nose, sounding exactly like what you'd expect a quirky but character-driven nineties indie to sound like. Some of the film's moments probably called for music that was a little less goofy. 

”Slums of Beverly Hills” was not exactly a break-out hit of the nineties indie movie scene. It got a little loss in the shuffle at the time. However, the film received healthy reviews and even grabbed a couple of nominations from various awards. Fans would eventually circle around the movie, largely thanks to cable television screening. That's how I first saw it, catching an early-in-the-morning showing on the Bravo Channel back when that network still showed classy movies. It's always stuck with me. “Slums of Beverly Hills” is a gem, a beautifully acted and composed comedy with lots of heart and a number of other things on its mind too. While not groundbreaking necessarily, it succeeds at almost everything it sets out to do. [Grade: B+]