Review of Private Life (2018) by Lk L — 07 Oct 2018

Delightful, wry, often very funny comedy about a New York City couple and their struggle to have a baby. Giamatti and Hahn deliver warm, nuanced, charming performances. He is a well-known theater director who has a "pickle guy" business on the side - a circumstance that reminded me fleetingly of Joan Micklin Silver's East Village film, Crossing Delancey, which features another mensch who is a pickle guy.

She is a noted writer who is about to publish a new book Both have made choices in their careers that led them to delay parenthood. Now, when they are finally ready, it eludes them. Their young, confused, affectionate, and artistically inclined niece (another terrific performance) comes to visit during the aftermath of a failed IVF, and is persuaded to become their egg donor.

Complications ensue. Tamara Jenkins and her strong cast have done a fine job of realizing and inhabiting their characters and the city itself. Jenkins even manages to explore many of the tricky ethical questions underpinning the story line without puncturing the generally light tones - no easy feat.