Images courtesy of Daylight on Mars Pictures
MIDDLE LIFE— 4 STARS
LESSON #1: THE DEFINITION OF A “GOOD HANG”— There’s a term to love in the Canadian indie rom-com Middle Life: “good hang.” When you get past the first definition describing the presentation quality of one’s manhood, Urban Dictionary will tell you it’s someone fun to hang out with. One of the film’s lead characters fits that bill as someone who makes mundane days more exciting with inclusive interpersonal skills. Those special people, or at least ones that are consistent at pulling it off, are hard to find and easy to love. Everyone should have at least one of these types of individuals in their life.
That being said, “good hang” could also describe the completed activity itself that was spawned from a spontaneous idea. Over the people themselves, the delight and surprise of satisfaction from the passage of quality time spent is what gets the “good hang” label the most in Middle Life. Churning with an approachable zest to watch the revitalization of a wayward pair of souls brought together from different walks of life, Middle Life itself earns that very marker of appreciation.
One night driving in the suburbs of Toronto, a married wedding planner and new mother named Andie (Leah Fay Goldstein of Diamond Tongues) comes upon a rollover car accident. Her initial aid helps save the lives of the driver, Ryan (Sinners ensemble member Peter Dreimanis), and his father, Bernie (Curse of Aurore’s Mike D. Smith). All three go about their lives after that night. Andie is juggling a double-career household with her academic husband Chris (Luke Lalonde, seen in Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie) and her toddler son. Ryan continues his diligent blue-collar work as an on-call plumber and part-time caretaker of Bernie’s cognitive recovery since the accident.
A stroke of chance in Middle Life comes into play when Ryan and Andie run into each other in public. His heavy sense of gratitude is met with equal kindness in return by her. Ryan invites her to grab a drink sometime soon after work to catch up, and Leah obliges. When Andie does, the two share a great talk at the bar, comparing lives. His new lease on life to make every day something meaningful comes through at a time when Andie feels stuck in a divisive rut with Chris. When Ryan urges her to keep the good time going and crash a house party they walk by, she obliges again, as we witness the first of many “good hang” moments.
LESSON #2: FINDING EXCITEMENT IN A LIFE LACKING IT— One interesting tell to come out of Andie’s meet-up with Ryan was that she took her wedding ring off, only putting it back on during the final Uber ride. Deep down, Andie wanted this type of excitement and a chance to get away from the domestic doldrums and her unresponsive husband. She liked getting a little tipsy and having an agreeable adult conversation with a man locked in on smiling right back at her. Likewise, Ryan gets an escape from watching his father’s decline and the next best thing to an active dating life. The two begin to schedule more and more regular friendly appointments, collected in a “good hang” montage of bowling, pedicures, drinking, chowing down at a Pizza Hut buffet, and sneaking into an auction.
LESSON #3: CAN IT STAY PLATONIC?— These get-together segments in Middle Life between Andie and Ryan, set often to a jazzy score from composer Ben Fox (recently of The Outer Threat), exude a casual comfort that is downright contagious. We want to leap from our theater seat or couch to join them in the dalliances of their newfound spirit of adventure and quests for bucket list experiences. The more these characters liberate their stresses with each other, the more we root for them in classic romantic comedy fashion. Their new connective verve is strong, as one wonders how long this kinship can stay platonic.
Between both the astute script and careful direction from Sundowners filmmaker Pavan Moondi, Middle Life does not take the slight and silly route of typical serendipity. It would be so easy to have both characters flirt with each other in a swarm of double entendres and suggestive zingers for an hour until one succumbs in a melodramatic, swooning crescendo. Middle Life is too frank and mature for that gaudy route in all the best ways, while still sprinkling plenty of amorous magic to lighten the mood when necessary.
The strength of that wisdom comes from the wonderful depths of the two Middle Life leads. Andie and Ryan are two middle-aged people with fears, flaws, and external responsibilities away from their shared hangouts. Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis (who are also helpful producers on the film) play them as such, with tangible insecurities and outstanding shell-shedding charisma. Thanks to their committed and brave performances of showing life’s difficulties parallel to the carefree and united fun, the question isn’t “will-they” or “won’t-they” like other rom-coms. It’s should they because of the prudence being paced so smoothly and realistically next to the pleasures. Built that way, any fulfillment found in it all becomes much more rewarding.
LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#1415)
