Writer/director/lead Ellie Sachs’ adult coming-of-age story Lucy Schulman is a classic NYC relationship comedy, the kind I generally find hard to resist.
After finding out that her supposed happily-ever-after, Nikhil (Hasan Minhaj), was cheating on her, Lucy goes back to her dad Peter’s (David Cross) place, as she always does after a break up. To console her, Peter says “Boys are like buses. There’s one every 15 minutes.” She starts hitting the apps and meeting new people. We get the obligatory terrible dates montage featuring several weird guys, one of whom offers to share a soup with her.
We observe Lucy at work, in relationships, and with her girlfriends. Many sequences are packed with laughs. Among them, the father-daughter scenes stand out, thanks to Cross’ comedic delivery and the chemistry he shares with Sachs.
The film ultimately focuses on learning to stand on your own two feet without always relying on family or a significant other for strength. I was a fan of the Tribeca 2023 short Proof of Concept, which Sachs had co-directed and starred in. Her debut feature offers few surprises, but it knows its audience and delivers the goods.
