Rating: 
Summary: Like The Truman Show, but funny!
Review: Albert as his most brilliant. Based (I presume) on the appalingly dull PBS program "An American Family"...Albert decides to document the life of a totally ordinary American family. For this bit of pseudo-science to work, he has to make sure that he and his camera crew don't interfere with the family's daily routine--which of course, is the gag. It helps if you "get" Albert Brooks but if you do, this is the funniest infomercial you will ever see.
Rating:
Summary: Love him or hate him
Review: Albert Brooks is one of this culture's most revealing litmus tests. Some people don't find him the least bit funny. The fault was once believed to lie in Brooks's "understated, subtle-to-the-point-of-non-existent" humor. New findings, however, point to a flaw in the brain of the viewer. Specifically, the congenital underdevelopment of a region in the Occipital cortex known as "Schmegegy's Area", long thought responsibe for sense of humor. While it's not a serious brain disorder, the name of the syndrome is "Serious Brain Disorder". Real Life isn't the funniest movie of all time. That honor belongs to Modern Romance. Real Life is the second funniest movie of all time. The "Airport" line is my favorite. Buy at your own risk. If you don't love it, you've self-diagnosed yourself as having a most unfunny brain.
Rating:
Summary: Love him or hate him
Review: Albert Brooks is one of this culture's most revealing litmus tests. Some people don't find him the least bit funny. The fault was once believed to lie in Brooks's "understated, subtle-to-the-point-of-non-existent" humor. New findings, however, point to a flaw in the brain of the viewer. Specifically, the congenital underdevelopment of a region in the Occipital cortex known as "Schmegegy's Area", long thought responsibe for sense of humor. While it's not a serious brain disorder, the name of the syndrome is "Serious Brain Disorder". Real Life isn't the funniest movie of all time. That honor belongs to Modern Romance. Real Life is the second funniest movie of all time. The "Airport" line is my favorite. Buy at your own risk. If you don't love it, you've self-diagnosed yourself as having a most unfunny brain.
Rating: 
Summary: Hysterical Life at 24 frames per second
Review: Albert Brooks started his career as a comedian for the tonight show and made short sketches for Saturday Night Live. In REAL LIFE he stars as Albert Brooks a comedian who made short films for a Saturday Night comedy show with appearances on other late night talk shows. In this, his directorial debut, he films the entirety of someone's real life, but falters because the cameras automatically make the `real life', false and troublesome.Charles Grodin is hysterical as the head of the chosen household, and is given much of the hysterical material. His scene with a veterinary operation is stellar. And much of the humor is punctuated by the consistent appearance by cameramen, wearing an obscene and silly contraption, sort of a camera helmet. (Harry Shearer is one of the cameramen...) Still, by the films end, this is a well-executed one-joke comedy and like other Brooks films, the structure suffers by the third act. REAL LIFE is a funny film and a great start for Brooks. A must for fans of his work...
Rating:
Summary: Hysterical Life at 24 frames per second
Review: Albert Brooks started his career as a comedian for the tonight show and made short sketches for Saturday Night Live. In REAL LIFE he stars as Albert Brooks a comedian who made short films for a Saturday Night comedy show with appearances on other late night talk shows. In this, his directorial debut, he films the entirety of someone's real life, but falters because the cameras automatically make the 'real life', false and troublesome. Charles Grodin is hysterical as the head of the chosen household, and is given much of the hysterical material. His scene with a veterinary operation is stellar. And much of the humor is punctuated by the consistent appearance by cameramen, wearing an obscene and silly contraption, sort of a camera helmet. (Harry Shearer is one of the cameramen...) Still, by the films end, this is a well-executed one-joke comedy and like other Brooks films, the structure suffers by the third act. REAL LIFE is a funny film and a great start for Brooks. A must for fans of his work...
Rating:
Summary: If not another side of Albert Brooks, at least another facet
Review: As a (comparative) young'n, I first experienced Albert Brooks through his movie Defending Your Life, which I adored for years (still do). I checked out each movie after that ("Mother" and "The Muse") with equal glee. Having finally checked out his previous films, I was amazed to find that "Real Life" and especially "Modern Romance" are rather different beasts from the inventive but largely harmless later works. Brooks in his prime is not just a brilliant satirist, but a master of the goulishly uncomfortable situation! Observe the palpable fear given off by Charles Grodin as he tries to dissuade Brooks from showing the footage of him losing one of his patients (he's a veterinarian, so he loses a horse. Big animals are funnier than little ones.) on the table due to his error. Or check out the "put your couch pillow over your face and scream silently" scene in "Modern Romance" where Albert calls a random woman in his roladex, having just broken up with his on-again, off-again girlfriend. Of course, the uncomfortable nature of the scene is intensified by the fact that Albert has just taken two quaaludes before making the call. Watch him confess his love to a woman who he later admits, "I'm not QUITE sure who she is or where I know her from." Wow! A long way from the clever but unassuming takes on the afterlife and the misadventures of a greek muse in the 20th century. The closest he's come in recent films is "Mother," which I had the mis/fortune of seeing with my own mother! What a relief that my own laughs of recognition were covered up by hers, as she related all of the matronly satire to her own mom! Since everybody in this set of reviews is naming their favorite lines from "Real Life," I'd like to mention two of mine, during the great "testing possible candidates for the project" section of the film. More than just about any humorist I can think of, Brooks' jokes here are so under-the-rader, they're almost invisible. "The participants were put through an enormous battery of tests. How many tests? Well, if you were to convert the tests to eggs, there would be enough eggs to feed the entire city of New York for three weeks, based on a two egg per person per week diet. Sound confusing? It was." "Participants were given fifteen tests, such as this one here, Test #85." Albert Brooks is such an underrated comedian and filmmaker, he's probably always going to be seen as a second-tier artist (at best). Admittedly, just about all of his films contain some sort of flawed element or something that just doesn't really work, but my God, the man just keeps on trying SO HARD. Every three to five years, he releases a new and completely entertaining and remarkable film to a society that might vaguely remember him from Saturday Night Live, and who seem to be slightly miffed that he hasn't taken the hint and quietly disappeared. I'm so admirous of him.
Rating:
Summary: A great off-center comedy!
Review: I can't believe I never heard of this movie 'til now. Albert Brooks has always been great, and this ties "Lost in America" as one of his best. I know people in the local TV biz who are just like Brooks' character--always putting a positive spin on any situation no matter how disastrous to avoid production delays and keep on shooting. I couldn't help but laugh everytime I caught a glimpse of one of the helmeted cameramen--I like how they're just kinda floating around in the background, jockeying for the best shots and looking totally ludicrous. "Real Life" is a real classic!
Rating:
Summary: Life in Phoenix
Review: I saw this film about two years ago. I was on a business trip and was checking the channels. Something about this film caught my eye and I watched it. I was in tears! This is quite possibly one of the funniest ideas ever found on the screen. Brook's use of involving his character with the family he's presenting to the public is brilliant. The reaction of the family is histerical. And one only needs to watch for ten minutes to see one of the camermen ("the latest in technology for 1979!"), one terrific idea again.
Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: Ironically there is a scene in "Real Life" where Albert Brooks (playing himself) considers ripping off the ending of Star Wars to end his own film. Ironic because the fact is, despite all the hype surrounding George Lucas' digital filmmaking revolution, Brooks was the true pioneer of digital filmmaking, having shot his comedy masterpiece "Real Life" back in 1977 with state of the art digital cameras that stored images as computer data, which was later "decoded to film as we know it." When will Brooks receive acknowledgment for this daring technical feat? Anyway, "Real Life" is one of the funniest films ever made. I strongly recommend viewing the DVD format, as the print is considerably better than the muddy VHS version. Also there is an interesting interview with Brooks. Note to Phoenix residents: the film is set in Phoenix and there are plenty of local landmarks, some long gone (Goldwaters, Legend City, Encanto Park, and the Cine Capri)
Rating: 
Summary: Okay.
Review: Perhaps I just got a bad tape, but the color quality of the film seemed to be lacking, sort of like a washed out old home movie. There are some funny parts, but there are some slow parts, which is probably why I didn't bother seeing the rest of the film. It is nowhere near as funny or as slick as Brooks' Lost in America, which has to reign as the funniest movie ever made.
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