DREAMLAND

Robert Schwartzman makes his directorial debut with this comedy about dreams and the costs paid to reach them. Part-time pianist and full-time underdog Monty Fagan (Johnny Simmons) fills in on the ivories at an upscale hotel and the seemingly dead-end assignment sets into motion a May-December romance that upends his home life and dramatically reshapes his worldview. As Monty says early on about the requirements of a quality music performance, “Sometimes you have to step back and contemplate what it is you’re doing.”

Schwartzman and co-writer Benjamin Font offer an update on The Graduate, cut with a little piano music. Monty and the people in his life discover just how quickly impulsive decisions go bad, and that shortcuts are no substitute for honest, dedicated hard work. Simmons skillfully handles Monty’s growth, alongside a set of perfectly cast co-stars who push or manipulate him along the way: Amy Landecker, Frankie Shaw, Alan Ruck, Beverly D’Angelo, Noël Wells, elder Schwartzman Jason and their mother Talia Shire.

—Shayna Weingast