Landline 2017

      Two sisters come of age in the '90s in New York when they discover their dad's affair.  Eventually, they learn he's not the only cheater in the family.  Set in Manhattan in 1995 Landline follows three women in one family.  They are having lots of sex, drugs and Japanese food.  They are navigating monogamy, honesty and a long-lost New York.  The Jacobs family lives in the last days when people still didn't have cell phones and still smoked inside.  

     Teenage Ali discovers her dad's affair.  Her older sister Dana uncovers her own wild side.  Their mother Pat grapples with the truth that she can't have it all.  But, her family still has each other.  This is a generation raised on divorce and wall-to-wall carpeting.  Landline is an honest comedy about what happens when sisters become friends and parents become human.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

Special Note:  For the look of the characters' outfits, costume designer Liz Vastola took inspiration from Seinfeld to achieve an accurate depiction of 90's fashion.  Mom Pat is sitting on the bathroom floor with her arms around her daughters.  She tells them “I love you guys so much.  Even when you make me crazy!!  You're the best thing that ever happened to me.  Oh, you know, it doesn't always wind up like this.  I mean it doesn't *have* to end up like this.”  This is after everyone in the family knows dad is cheating!!  

Mistake:  Characters are listening to the song "On Fire" by Sebadoh in one scene set in 1995. The song was released in August 1996.  

93 min, comedy/drama with Jenny Slate, John Turturro, Edie Falco, Abby Quinn, Jay Duplass, Finn Wittrock, Amy Carlson, Ali Ahn, Gillian Robespirre, Elisabeth Holm, Marquis Rodriguez, Jordan Carlos, Bobbie Salvor Menuez. 

Directed by Gillian Robespierre and produced by Russell Levne and Gigi Pritzker, executive producers Christopher Lytton and Natalya Petrosova, Gillian Robespierre, Rachel Shane.

Note:  Imdb 6.4* out of 10* with 4.3K ratings, Rotten Tomatoes 75% with 130 reviews 64% with 2,500+ reviews, Roger Ebert 3* Susan Wloszczyna, Metacritic 66 out of 100 with 33 critic reviews 6.4 out of 10 user scores with 17 ratings, the guardian.com 3* out of 5* Jordan Hoffman.