Director, co-writer, editor, and star Daryl Wein and his real-life girlfriend, Zoe Lister-Jones (co-producer, co-writer, co-star), give us a fictionalized take on their own lives, even playing characters named after themselves. According to the film Zoe, the way to either get a new sense of life back into their relationship or engineer a "positive" breakup is to take "days off," so they devise a plan to take time away from each other on three specific days of each week. This creates an open arrangement that leads to flirtations with others and complications for a couple very much in love who just can't seem to get the sparks going again. As the film unfolds, we also find ourselves immersed in the lives of Daryl's parents (Julie White and Peter Friedman), as well as Zoe's mom (Andrea Martin), who have uniquely different ways of counseling their kids through this timeout. It all leads to a very memorable Passover Seder. White is particularly hilarious in stating her rather conservative views while Friedman tries to stay out of the fray.
The majority of the movie finds Daryl and Zoe explaining and analyzing the progress of their new situation, either for themselves or others, and gently traversing uncharted territory in the mysteries of the whole man-woman thing. Although it's an area that other so-called romantic comedies have toyed with, this one gets it right. The success of "Breaking Upwards" lies in the hands of its two lead actors who wrote with Peter Duchan a script that deftly navigates their relationship in such a way that neither comes off as right or wrong, unsympathetic, or just plain pathetic. They're not "types" but rather relatable people looking for answers that are not easy to find. This is the kind of smart, humanist, low-budget New York–based romcom that major studios regularly made in the 1960s and '70s but wouldn't touch now. It's too bad, because Wein and Lister-Jones prove the format is still fresh in the right hands. And it was a smart move to put themselves in the leads, as each proves a natural—even if the characters aren't a stretch. Both have an engaging screen presence, and we root for them right up to the bittersweet ending. Getting New York stage actors the caliber of White, Friedman, and Martin was a smart move, too. All are wonderful in the parental roles, and there's also great work from LaChanze (Tony winner for "The Color Purple") and Olivia Thirlby as two of Daryl's "friends." Pablo Schreiber also scores hilariously as Zoe's Off-Off-Off-Broadway co-star and one-night stand.
With universal truths, lots of genuine laughs, and even some tears, Wein and Lister-Jones have made one from the heart that proves breaking up (or "upwards") is hard to do—but worth the ride.
Genre: Comedy. Written by: Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones, Peter Duchan. Directed by: Daryl Wein. Starring: Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones, Andrea Martin, Julie White, Peter Friedman, LaChanze, Olivia Thirlby, Pablo Schreiber, Ebon Moss-Bachrach.