Life Itself

source: Life Itself

source: Life Itself

I agree the first 10 minutes I was SUPER close to jumping ship, but I would have really missed out! A beautiful exepected story of life, trials and family. The hope and history that brings us where we are today. The acting and writing were some of the best I have every seen.

This is my first film review. I never write reviews because I don't really agree with the ones I read. This movie had bad reviews but I knew in my gut I wouldn't agree with them, and I was right! As I sit in my house in silence, straight after watching Life Itself, I think about my own life. I'm 35 years old and married to my true love who I met only 6 years ago. A few years before that I would pass this house regularly, not knowing the family that lived inside whilst I was in a toxic relationship that would turn into an even more toxic marriage. 7 years ago, on this very day, I left that marrige not knowing that I would end up in that house, loving the man that owned it and the children that eventually would become like my own. Coincidences happen, even bizzare ones like the one that ends this movie. Life Itself is a BRILLIANT movie. It moved me to tears. It made me laugh. It entertained me. It broke my heart. It left me with questions. It gave me answers to questions I'd not even asked. Just like life itself.

This movie was hands down one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. Would highly recommend. I have to think the only people giving this movie a score lower than a seven, are desensitized and are probably embarrassed that they cried at a movie, would be my guess. It was amazing. The only reason you wouldn't enjoy and appreciate this movie and its message, is if you literally do not have a soul.

Most everything that the discerning critic says is true for me. Piecing together a collection of vignettes, riddled with potholes and gimmicks, the movie is overly ambitious. In spite of the star power and a few heartfelt scenes - that are included in the trailer -and driven by a ruthless need to connect the dots and achieve some kind of poetic justice, it accomplishes the exact opposite of its aim to delight you - instead trivializing and cheapening inevitable and common events that bind all and make us human. The Old World storyline featuring Antonio Banderas and company resonated more than the NYC one perhaps because the acting was more understated and the characters less shallow. (I did sniffle just a little towards the end.. quite possibly out of relief that my ordeal watching these self-absorbed sad sacks was almost over.) Somehow, as much as I usually enjoy Annette Bening and Oscar Isaac, even their best efforts could barely engender any empathy for their characters. (And another thing, what is the point of Samuel L Jackson playing himself in this movie? Or the handsome "hero" character in the opening sequence? Oh Hollywood! Forever virtue signalling and making grand political statements all the while executing these pointless casting concessions. Sorry, whatever the purpose, it did not serve to make the movie more authentic or meaningful.) Not likely to seek out any of Fogelman's upcoming projects. Though I am not familiar with his TV work, I have seen previous comedy-drama films like Danny Collins and the way overrated Crazy Stupid Love in which chuckles were few and far between insipid plot lines. Often, less is more. Much less of this movie would've meant the world for me, but lesson learned: steer clear of Hollywood vanity projects that promise to uplift and save you from the ordinary but instead burden you with unfunny, unsound and unsavory situations. Save your precious moments / money & skip it. Trust: there are much better ways to enjoy life!

We just returned from the Toronto Inter. Film Festival. We saw 23 movies, and my wife and I agree this was the best we saw. Ignore the critics. They say things like "It's just like X," or "He borrowed this from Y," or "It's too unrealistic." Nonsense. Who cares? If you are looking for an engrossing story, this is it. The four-segment format is great, because it keeps you wondering "What has this segment got to do with what the previous segment was about?" And you quickly find out. But you never know where it's going--the end is unpredictable, but thoroughly possible. Granted, there are those who have never run into a coincidence in their lives. I feel sorry for those people. I know in my own life I have been surrounded by coincidences: at a recent conference I idly began chatting to a guy in front of me. We had shared the same thesis advisor! When I lived in Saudi Arabia, who moved in next door? A junior h.s. classmate of my wife's--he had moved away in junior high and she had not heard anything about him until 25 years later he popped up 10,000 miles away as her next door neighbor. Every time we go to Europe we bump into people we know. Coincidences--even extremely improbable ones--are part of life. If you accept this, this is the movie for you. Great performances by a variety of actors. And the end....everyone in the theater was sniffling, and it wasn't because they had colds. It touched each and every one of us, and in the end, isn't that what a movie should do? I think so.

No super heroes, no car chases, no revenge , no wild cgi effects, no apocalypse, and no lurking undead. Just superb layered storytelling, fine acting, and a message about the dilemma and the magnificent potential of human beings (if we choose it). If that's not a message that interests you, or you have some pre-set bias around the way Fogleman famously evokes emotional themes, then do everyone a favor and don't show up. If, on the other hand, you do not fear your vulnerabilities and can stretch yourself to some artistic license that doesn't involve space ships or old men who bounce off pavement (I'm looking at you Tom, Liam, and Bruce), then I dare say you could really like this movie. I was lucky to get tickets to an early screening and I look forward to watching the IMDB number on this film go up and up.

Beautifully put together film, superb acting, editing. The low reviews are shocking but yet again not. People. Didn't read the book, if there is a book. Don't need to do a mental comparison or have some expectation. Went in blank sheet and wife and daughter came out hugging after all three of us had our moments of reflection and tears during and after the film. You need to savor this film. Of course you'll figure out what you think is going to happen and that's okay. That's life. Life has its patterns and surprise moments that do indeed happen. It could happen and it does happen. Enjoy the film if you are an emotional person, a deeper person. C'est la vie... Just let go and enjoy the film.

Greetings again from the darkness. The theory is that heavy dramas find it challenging to attract an audience during times when real life and newscasts are filled with daily downers. One need only tune in to the local news to see that we are in just such a "downer" period right now, and it would be difficult to argue that this latest from writer/director Dan Fogelman ("This is Us") is anything but the weightiest of heavy dramas - with an emphasis on the preciousness of time and life. It's highly likely that this film will fall into the love it or hate it category. It's a sure bet that many critics will bash it as pretentious and overly melodramatic. It will be labeled a manipulative tear-jerker with outlandish coincidences. I won't debate the merits of that criticism, and instead will remind all that creative fictional storytelling can often seem fantastical and improbable, but that doesn't mean it can't also be entertaining, thought-provoking, and carry a worthwhile message. Because of the overlapping and intertwining stories, characters and timelines, filmmaker Fogelman breaks the film into 5 chapters. This should allow most viewers to keep track. Chapter 1 is entitled "The Hero" and features Samuel L Jackson as the unreliable narrator - a recurring theme throughout. It's also in this chapter that we meet Will and Abby. Will (Oscar Isaac) is an emotionally unstable man who has been in a mental institute for the 6 months since his wife Abby (Olivia Wilde) left him. He is despondent and attending required sessions with a therapist played by Annette Bening, and we get cutesy flashbacks to the Will and Abby courtship. See, Abby and Will are the kind of couple who see themselves as Tarantino characters, argue about the merits of Bob Dylan (poet or Chewbacca noises?), and come up with the worst dog name in cinematic history. Chapter 2 is where we meet Dylan Dempster, daughter of Will and Abby, and granddaughter of Mandy Patinkin and Jean Smart. She is named after the poet songwriter, not the Star Wars character. There is a cool effect that evolves Dylan's face from a child surrounded by death and tragedy to a just-turned-21 year old played by Olivia Cooke (THOROUGHBREDS), who also happens to front an atrocious punk rock band and flashes quite the temper. Chapter 3 shifts from New York City to Carmona, Spain where we are introduced to "The Gonzalez Family" of Javier (an outstanding Sergio Peris-Mencheta), his wife Isabel (another excellent performance from Laia Costa, VICTORIA), and Javier's boss Saccione (Antonio Banderas). Javier works Saccione's olive orchard, as he and Isabel start a family. Chapter 4 focuses on their son Rodrigo (Alex Monner) as he grows into a talented young man while his beloved mother suffers with a debilitating disease. Finally, in Chapter 5 we meet Elena Dempsey-Gonzalez (Lorenza Izzo) and the story comes full circle ... or all the dots are connected. Even the identity of the narrator who took Samuel L Jackson's place after Chapter 1 is revealed. Filmmaker Fogelman seems to be better suited as a writer (CRAZY STUPID LOVE) than as a director (DANNY COLLINS), and his script here is extraordinary in its ambition. While there may be some developments that seem contrived, there are also some terrific moments throughout. We see a cross-continent ripple effect that makes this the CRASH of family dramas (the 2004 movie, not the one from 1996). Who is a hero and who is a villain is one of the key elements here, but Fogelman seems intent on making the point that traumatic events and tragedy shape who we are as people. The message is that our ability to bounce back - to "stand up" after being knocked down, is really what defines the human experience. For those who keep an open mind, the emotional jolts provided here will likely resonate.