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Cast: Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine, As Good As It Gets), Emily Mortimer (Mary Poppins Returns, HBO’s “The Newsroom”), Jay Duplass (Amazon’s “Transparent,” Hulu’s “The Mindy Project”), Taylor Schilling (Netflix’s “Orange Is The New Black,” The Lucky One), Kurt Fuller (Midnight in Paris, Anger Management) with Luke Wilson (Legally Blonde series, Old School) and Bradley Whitford (Get Out, ABC’s “The West Wing”)
Phil, a depressed dentist whose life is falling apart, is shocked when one of his patients, a man who seemed to have the perfect life, kills himself. Determined to find out what would drive a man who had everything to end his life, Phil pretends to be a handyman and integrates himself in to the dead man's life, befriending his wife and daughter. How long can Phil keep up this double life when he is already ready to end his normal one?
'Phil' tells the story of a dentist who feels that his life is falling apart following a recent divorce. On the outside you might think he has a very good life with a daughter and a practice and affords him pretty much whatever he wants but as the film opens we see Phil stopping on a bridge, getting out of his car and climbing on the guard rail with the intent of ending his life.
This time though he doesn't follow through with it and instead just goes through the motions of living a day at a time. One day he gets a patient, Michael Fisk who seems to have it all, including total happiness. Obsessed with the guy Phil decides to follow him around and try and find out what it is that makes this man's life so perfect. But one day while following him in his car Fisk stops at the side of the road and gets out and enters a wooded area. Curious, Phil decides to do the same but instead of running into Fisk he instead finds the man has hung himself.
Desperate for answers as to why a man that seemed so happy could take his own life Phil decides to act as Fisk's old friend, Spiros from Greece. When he befriends Fisk's widow, Alicia and while he is at it he also volunteers to remodel her bathroom. The problem is he knows nothing about remodeling so he has to get books on it and also try and learn the Greek language and accent in a hurry. Now the only question is can he keep up this fake persona long enough to find out why Fisk took his own life.
I didn't read a lot about the film for watching it which I do a lot so basically all I knew was that it was about a depressed man who was thinking about committing suicide so the whole plot was a bit of a surprise to be going in but as the story moved along I found myself engaged in a story that involved so much more than I could have thought. The film was directed by and stars, Greg Kinnear as Phil. I have always been a big fan of Kinnear's so I was definitely eager to watch it. While the film deals with a few serious subject matters including depression and suicide, it is a dark comedy but while there are many funny moments it deals with the subject matter respectfully.
The script by, Stephen Mazur is funny, thoughtful, and sensitive and it has a few twists along the way as well to keep you engaged in the story and its characters. It also has what many films don't, a perfect ending. Another thing that made the film so good was the cast, Greg Kinnear is his usual amazing, likable self but he isn't alone. Emily Mortimer who plays Fisk's wife in the film is terrific as well. I have always been a fan of hers because she is such a beautiful and talented actress and again she gives a fantastic performance here. The supporting cast were all excellent as well including, April Cameron, Sarah Dugdale, Jay Duplass, Robert Forster and Kurt Fuller to name a few.
'Phil' is the perfect blend of drama and comedy and its cast delivers in spades. The film also shows us that no matter how bad things may seem someone cares about you and life is indeed worth living. PHIL will be in Theaters, On Demand and Digital on July 5, 2019 so be sure to check out this little gem. With all the remakes, sequels and superhero movies in theaters every week it is nice to see an original film with a likable cast for a chance.
Released by Quiver Distribution
**** Out Of *****