Real Life (1979 film)

Real Life is a 1979 American satirical comedy film directed by Albert Brooks. It is a parody of the documentary film An American Family, which followed the Loud family in 1973. Brooks plays a fictionalized version of himself, attempting to film the "real life" of an average American family, the Yeagers. The film explores the ethical issues of documentary filmmaking and the impact of being filmed on the subjects' behavior. The cast includes Charles Grodin, Frances Lee McCain, and J. Bill Vandeveld as the Yeager family. Real Life is known for its improvisational style and its dark, often uncomfortable, humor. It was Brooks' directorial debut and is considered a cult classic. The film's ending, which features the destruction of the Yeagers' house, is particularly memorable and controversial.