If you’re looking for something to see while you’re on your third bun and fourth piece of pie this Thanksgiving, look no further than Private life. Thanksgiving movies are amazingly hard to find. There are plenty of Halloween and Christmas gems, but as the middle child’s holiday, Thanksgiving rarely gets a chance to shine. But although the number of Turkey Day films may be small, the quality of the films we have is especially Tamara JenkinsThe 2018 drama of the year more than makes up for it.
Private life focuses on New York writers Rachel (Katherine Hahndeprived of an Oscar nomination for her performance) and Richard (Paul Giamatti, also robbed) as they struggle to have a baby. They try everything—fertility treatment, surrogacy, adoption—and every path ends up with a broken heart. That is, until their 25-year-old step-niece Sadie (the breakout star) Kylie Carter) is included in the mixture. A talented but aimless artist looking for a purpose, Sadie agrees to donate her eggs to make their dreams of becoming parents come true. This proposal leads to a beautiful and complex dynamic between the three of them, as well as Sadie’s immediate family, namely her mother Cynthia (a delightfully nervous Molly Shannon). It’s the perfect Thanksgiving movie for a lot of reasons.
‘Private life’ Serves a painful Thanksgiving dinner
The first and most obvious reason Private life is the quintessential Thanksgiving movie, as the key scene takes place during a regular meal around the middle of the movie. Rachel, Richard, and Sadie, who lives with them in the attic while she graduates from online college, drive up to Cynthia and Sadie’s stepfather, Charlie (John Carroll Lynch) house to celebrate the holiday and things get messy fast. When Cynthia invites everyone to share something they’re grateful for, Sadie decides to drop the bomb that she’s donating her eggs - an announcement she didn’t agree with Rachel and Richard and news that infuriates Cynthia. Cynthia throws her napkin on the table and bursts into the kitchen to aggressively slice up the turkey while she and Sadie argue over whether she’s making a huge mistake.
Arguments are commonplace at any Thanksgiving dinner—drama is as traditional as stuffing or mashed potatoes with sauce—and Private life builds on this, seamlessly blending heavy, dramatic moments with masterful comedy rhythms. It’s the nuance and attention to detail that takes this scene from a good Thanksgiving scene to one of the best. While half the family intervenes in Sadie and Cynthia’s fight in the kitchen, the other half stays in the dining room, ignoring Uncle Bob (Fenton Lawless) mutters about sobriety in his acceptance speech. Once the conflict escalates to the point beyond repair, Rachel, Richard and Sadie quickly order it into their car. Cynthia, Charlie and Sadie’s younger sister Charlotte (Emily Robinson) follow them, Cynthia continues to scold them all, and Charlie tries to pass the rest of the food in tin foil through the car window to them.
And that’s not to mention the previous Thanksgiving, where Sadie tells how she overheard Charlie tell her mother that Richard only has one testicle. Besides overeating, another popular Thanksgiving pastime is overeating, no matter what family you’re in.
The power of the extended family shines in “Private Lives”
Speaking of family, this is another key component of Thanksgiving. But while “curious aunt asking when you’re getting married” and “crinkly-worthy politically incorrect uncle” are definitely stereotypes that exist for a reason, Private life refreshingly takes a different approach. As an aspiring artist, Sadie is more connected to her aunt and uncle than to her own parents, and even refers to Rachel and Richard as her “artistic mum and dad.” She cites them as role models and feels they understand and appreciate them in a unique and impressive way. “I feel closer to you guys than to everyone else in my family,” she tells Richard. - You guys got it.
Rachel and Richard, in turn, take her under their wing, allowing her to stay in their apartment, providing her with an internship with their theater company, and taking notes on her writing - notes that eventually lead to her following in her footsteps. Rachel and her are accepted. to the prestigious writing community. They become mentors, nurturing and supporting her in ways her parents cannot. While many movies show the extended family as people you only see a few times a year, Private life proves that you can be as close, if not closer, to them as your next of kin.
‘Private Life’ shows that the holidays are not always a joyful time
Bye Private life while praising the strength of the family, it also touches on a sadder reality: the fact that the holidays are not always a happy and easy time for everyone. Feelings of loneliness and emptiness can increase due to an over-emphasis on family and togetherness. This is especially noticeable in the Halloween scenes in the film. The film spans just over a year, and on the first Halloween, Richard and Rachel completely forget about the holiday.
Depressed after the disappointing news of their latest IVF treatment, kids from their home are knocking on the door, craving candy they have nothing to offer. It’s like salt in the wound - a stark reminder that they don’t have babies to give jokes or treats to. On the second Halloween, Richard hands out candy before the two of them attend a parade through a sea of children in costume. Although he seems a little more hopeful, there is still an unmistakable melancholy about him. It’s bittersweet.
Halloween acts as sort of the start of the holiday season, and one can’t help but realize that they’re going to have a lot more moments like this over the next two months. Whether it’s meeting up with children of friends and family at a get-together (which we see twice in this movie, both in the form of slightly awkward children’s musical performances) or walking past toddlers sitting on Santa’s lap at the mall, wherever they look, they’ll see the life they so desperately want: the one they are constantly surrounded by but out of reach. Holidays are the time when the focus is on the family. Unfortunately, this means that those who have trouble launching their own are constantly reminded of what they don’t have.
“Private Life” Highlights the Difficulties of Evaluation
The central theme of Thanksgiving is obviously gratitude for what you have. Private life doesn’t shy away from seeing how Rachel and Richard deal with it. For all intents and purposes, the two of them live comfortable lives: they have a gorgeous loft in New York, Richard has had several successful plays over the years, and Rachel has been published in tin house as well as New Yorker. Their careers are booming. Rachel’s friend even comments on how great it is that Rachel has a book coming out, lamenting that she hasn’t been able to write since her baby was born. Sadie reminds Cynthia that she always told her that she would have to sacrifice her professional life to raise the kids, and Rachel and Richard didn’t have to choose between anything. There are perks and perks to not having children.
Richard points this out at one point, reminding Rachel that it was their choice to keep pushing back the date they were going to start trying for kids: after he finished the play, after she published the story, after how she finished the book, etc. But Rachel still feels betrayed. All her life she felt like she was told that she could have everything she could to succeed in her career and start a family, and now it seems like it was all a ruse. In a way, she feels like she’s being punished for choosing to focus on writing, and now she has fears and regrets that it might be too late. Being grateful is hard, sometimes ugly, because the grass always seems to be greener on the other side. Private life explores this concept head-on.
bottom line
Private life the perfect movie to get you in the thanksgiving spirit. Not only does it have a masterfully executed sequence that takes place on a holiday, but it dives into the themes of family and gratitude - what an event it is. Moreover, he shows families as they really are, in all their dysfunctional, surprisingly chaotic glory.
It doesn’t shy away from difficult, often neglected topics - delving into the darker, more bleak aspects of the holiday, such as feelings of dissatisfaction or isolation from the friends and family that surround you - in a gritty, real fashion. However, it also has an inherent warmth and humour, from the love that clearly pervades every family interaction, especially between the main trio, to the cozy sets and costume design. Grab a plate of leftovers (and maybe a napkin or two) and make Private life your watch for Thanksgiving this year. You will be grateful that you did.
Source: Collider
