Review - Fantasy Life

Starring Matthew Shear, Amanda Peet, Alessandro Nivola, Judd Hirsch. Written and directed by Matthew Shear. Rated R. 91 minutes. In theaters.

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Can a movie still be good even if the main character is a complete zero? I’m willing to offer a qualified yes after watching “Fantasy Life,” a throwback to neurotic New York comedies of old in which writer-director-star Matthew Shear creates a vacuum at the center of a terrific ensemble. I think this is at least partially by design. Shear stars as Sam, a floundering paralegal prone to panic attacks who keeps meekly finding himself mixed up with a series of outsized personalities. It’s a wry comic insight that a character too timid to assert himself would be the desired companion of domineering egomaniacs, but Shear doesn’t make big enough of an impression to fully pull it off. A week after seeing the movie I’m having a hard time remembering what he looks like. There’s a reverse narcissism to being so consistently upstaged in a star vehicle you’ve designed for yourself. “Fantasy Life” is like watching a Woody Allen movie in which Woody doesn’t tell any jokes.