The Year of Spectacular Men Synopsis: Story of Izzy Klein, a young woman fresh out of college as she strikes up and ruins relationships with several men, and struggles to navigate the failures of post-college adulthood, leaning on her mother and older sister for support.
Close to graduating college, Izzy (Madelyn Deutch) is living in New York with her boyfriend Aaron and struggling to figure out what she’s going to do once she’s finished school and on her own. She’s told that she has to participate in her drama class by performing a scene with a classmate if she wants to pass the class and graduate.
On top of her indecision about her life, this added stress prompts Izzy to tell Aaron (Jesse Bradford) that she’s thinking of moving back to Los Angeles with her model/actress sister Sabrina (Zoey Deutch). Aaron reacts badly to the news, and they break up. And so begins a year of “spectacular men” as Izzy struggles to find her happy ending while dealing with the lingering pain of her father’s suicide, her mother’s new dating life, which includes a much younger woman, and her high-maintenance sister who is making waves in Hollywood.
I had never heard of The Year of Spectacular Men before scrolling through Hulu to find something to watch. I like Zoey Deutch quite a bit, and I enjoy Lea Thompson’s work as well. I realized this movie was essentially a family affair. Madelyn Deutch wrote the screenplay and shared the screen with her sister Zoey and mother Lea, who also served as director. Her father, Howard Deutch, also produced the film. It sounded interesting enough, so I decided to give it a try.
Lea Thompson proved herself capable behind the camera, and it was cool knowing she directed her two daughters in a film written by one. Madelyn Deutch’s script had a lot of strengths as well. The Year of Spectacular Men shines when she’s sharing the screen with her sister Zoey, who is growing on me as an actress I’ve enjoyed watching. They shared a very natural rapport, which makes sense because… well, real-life sisters.
Madelyn created quite an interesting character in Izzy because who hasn’t felt out of place and lost after finishing school? She’s trying hard to find a happy ending, which she believes should include a man, but she continues to crash and burn, turning towards her favorite show, The X-Files, for constant comfort. So yes, the movie is about Izzy, but really, it’s Zoey Deutch’s Sabrina who is the MVP of the film. She initially comes across as a shallow starlet who drinks salads (yes, you read that right) and is wholly focused on her career. But Zoey nails the role, giving Sabrina a real personality and depth. Even better, Zoey claims the movie’s more humorous moments with impeccable comedic timing.
Sabrina’s long-time relationship with fellow actor Sebastian (Avan Jogia) is sweet, complicated, and passionate… everything Izzy tries to emulate in her own life. Unfortunately, it takes her a long time to realize she can’t duplicate her sister, not in men or careers. She has to find her own way in life.
The movie is called The Year of Spectacular Men, but none of the men Izzy finds herself with is anywhere near spectacular. They’re jerks, self-absorbed, only interested in a casual fling, or so incredibly neurotic they would rather repeat their innermost thoughts into their phone memos than to her. Honestly, the best parts of this movie are when Izzy and Sabrina are together, especially when their mother, Deb, is involved.
Throughout The Year of Spectacular Men, there are cuts to the many men in Izzy’s life, as if they’re giving interviews about Izzy and how they felt about her at the time. I found these men’s insight into their brief, or not-so-brief, relationships with Izzy interesting. It spoke volumes about how the men viewed the relationship with Izzy and revealed more about the men themselves. But then the insights abruptly stop, and the movie seems to take on a completely different narrative, becoming more about the sisters and Sabrina’s relationship with Sebastian. So yes, it was a bit jarring, like they took two movies with the same characters and meshed them together.
The cast is excellent, and The Year of Spectacular Men has a lot of humor and fantastic dialogue. But the movie as a whole just came across as tonally confused. It’s not one I’ll probably watch again, but it wasn’t terrible. Sadly, The Year of Spectacular Men falls into my category of “… that was fine.”
Watched: 01/28/2020
Notable Song: Girls Only by Har Mar Superstar
