Woody Allen released Annie Hall, his most popular film, in 1977, after a string of goofy comedies, and it was revelatory. Here was a film that ended not in new-found love, but heartbreak, tempered by resignation instead of melodrama. More importantly, it blurred the line between reality and fiction; one-time couple Allen and Diane Keaton played out a relationship onscreen, and we as the audience would assume it was directly inspired by real life. No, the director would insist, in time, that’s not how we really met, etc.

Zoe Lister Jones and Daryl Wein are apparently a real couple, and play characters in Breaking Upwards named, respectively, Zoe and Daryl. Daryl (the real person) directs, with skill that belies the approximate age of his character. He is 25 in the real world. Of course, I’m getting older and am constantly amazed at what those of my age show themselves capable of doing.

We meet Zoe and Daryl (the characters) at the end of a four-year relationship. They exist in New York as young hipsters do, tied to cultural posts like Netflix and Facebook, because that is the way things are. They are still very much in love, but to a point that few young people ever see. The thrill is gone but not the joy. There is desire to keep love, but less to make it. They are not bonded together by marriage or children, they simply share too much – the same hangouts, hobbies, friends. A plan is devised to test a breakup, slowly, in alternating off-and-on days of contact.

They cannot maintain the plan one bit. They move in and out of each other’s activities, unsure of whether they have actually broken up or not. This leads to some incredibly awkward moments, as they are forced to watch potential suitors drift into orbit. Zoe seems the stronger of the pair, but is crushed by a fling with the worst kind of man –charming and completely heartless.

Curiously, much time is given to the couple’s parents, who occupy the role of social confidantes. Daryl’s are Alan (Peter Friedman) and Joanie (Julie White). The latter is particularly miffed when she learns of the unusual “days off” plan, and reveals as much during a family gathering.

Zoe has her mother, Helaine (Andrea Martin), an aged hippie holding tact by the collar. Martin gets all the film’s best lines, perhaps because of her many years in comedy, though I can’t say for sure how much of Breaking Upwards is improvised. The dialogue seems carefully planned yet flows spontaneously from the actors.

Lister Jones and Wein must have known the comparisons to Annie Hall would be impossible to avoid. New York is New York, after all. Of course I wouldn’t follow that path if I thought Breaking Upwards was a bad film or undeserving of such comparison. It isn’t; it has considerable maturity in its drama and genuine laughs in its comedy. It is saved by its own low budget, and I mean low even by most standards. Wein isn’t able to overload scenes with quirky indie-rock songs or stylistic tics. He simply has a story, and the faith to carry it out.

I wonder how much of the film is “real.” The creators apparently did attempt a plan much like their characters, but did it succeed? When Zoe the character is wrapped in the arms of another man is Daryl the director cringing from behind the camera? Has the film helped or hindered the real-life relationship? I wonder, but I don’t really want to know.

Breaking Upwards had its premiere at SXSW this past March. It may be a while before it gets a wide release. Watch the trailer at www.breakingupwards.com.

Staff writer Jessie Skinner tackles anything and everything thrown his way but has a natural bent for film, music and current events.