Keeping one’s distance in difficult circumstances is the story of everyone’s life at present, both in terms of trying to make their way through life, as well as maintaining contact with those closest to them – and in the new bittersweet comedy-drama SAFE SPACES, New York University Creative Writing professor Josh Cohn (Justin Long, DIE HARD 4.0 (LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD) will need more than a good pair of rubber gloves to get out of the predicament he finds himself in.
Things are a bit awkward after a class in which he cajoles a student to reveal more about the story that she alleges is true – and reveals a more intimate and personal truth, something which the faculty and senior professors take exception to.
In addition, there are personal problems with his grandmother in hospital and his estranged parents, Jeff and Diane (Fran Drescher, Richard Schiff) being a little presumptuous and elusive in terms of the future of the grandmother’s house belongings (even though she is not totally out of the world yet) and having a younger brother, Ben (Tyler Wladis), who is not aware that Josh is his older brother.
Brother David (Michael Godere) is a family man and sister Jackie (Kate Berlant) , a podcaster, is struggling on medication – and is determined to maintain a good bond with her brother, even if it means helping him overcome the problem he has at university…
Grounded and real New-York-slice-of-life that encompasses the style of classic dramatic Woody Allen with Noah Baumbach’s recent offerings like MISTRESS AMERICA, with Justin Long holding the fort as the troubled and immature tutor, struggling to keep his world together amidst ever-detached dysfunction in life and work. Drescher and Schiff add good support at the parents in solid senior roles.
Very much a product of the #MeToo mindset, it tries to maintain a balance between the process of relationships and interpretation of feelings, as well as the determination to highlight the ongoing issues of diversity and divide between backgrounds and generations in a more subtle way.
Like most dramas of this ilk, there is a more complex dialogue that needs to be had between people that shouldn’t be limited to a film narrative and sometimes the two ideas here conflict on one another as the family drama and the issue of concern for Long’s character would make two decent dramas.
However, SAFE SPACES is skilfully weaved together to maintain a common progress. Whether or not you empathise with Long’s character remains to be seen, as he does seem to have a fair way to go before redemption in a classic drama overview. Watchable enough as conventional drama.
