¡Así es la vida!

Don't be surprised if you have never heard of "That's Life." It came and went quickly in 1988.

Jack Lemmon stars as a hypochondriac who is turning 60 and believes death is just around the corner. Of course nothing could be further from the truth. His wife is Julie Andrews as a singer who awaits the results of a test to see if she has cancer. But Lemmon is so wrapped up with his troubles his fails to realize his wife may be the one actually sick.

I know the description makes the film sound down and depressing. Nothing can be further from the truth!! As directed by Blake ("10," "Pink Panther") Edwards, the film is laced with comedy to relieve the tension for the audience as well as Julie Andrews.

This is a film for adults. It tackles real issues in real ways. The performances are all terrific and the mixture of comedy and drama are just right. It makes the film a qualified success.

Many people dislike this film because of its melodramatic sentimentality, but I love it because Lemmon's performance is near perfect. I say this because as we see Harvey Fairchild suffer a mid life crisis, we see Jack Lemmon, the actor, suffer. This film was made in the years when Lemmon was going through problems of his own, with drinking and among other things. Lemmon captured numerous demons through the performance of Harvey, plus I think the film is good in general. Robert Loggia is another favorite of mine and he, along with his Oscar nod in the same year for "Jagged Edge," is simply wonderful as Harvey's friend and priest who drinks as people give their confessions. Sally Kellerman is also a delight.

There are some movies you just get a good feeling about, and this (for me) is one of them. In every comment I've read here, though, no one mentioned the scene between Julie Andrews and Emma Walton, who are mother and daughter in real life and in the movie. Emma's character has just broken up with her boyfriend, and she spends the whole weekend in a bad mood until she finally breaks down crying and must be comforted by Julie's character. Lifetime channel, take note: sappy mother-daughter scenes work out best when you: 1-get real-life mother-daughter pairs and 2-let the mother (regardless of whether #1 is true or not) just speak from her heart. That's what Blake Edwards had enough sense to do, and it makes for one of the most touching mother-daughter scenes ever. Granted, Blake Edwards actually lived with these two people, so he may have had a better knowledge of their relationship and what would work, but most older actresses are mothers and could probably be capable of something similar. The rest of the film is great as well, with great performances all around, and a hilarious rambling from Jack at the beginning while he describes to Julie how his day at work went. This is the first movie that made my laugh and cry simultaniously (when Jack says he wanted to "bicycle himself to death"), and for that and the scene between Julie and Emma, watch this movie. It's way better than the box office will lead you to believe.

Speaking as a Jack Lemmon fan I think this movie is one of his worst. Jack and Julie make a nice couple but aren't able to make this film work. I expected much more from a movie directed by Blake Edwards, music by Henry Mancini (the Pink Panther Series) and two very good actors Jack Lemmon and Julie Andrews.

Apart from the nice scenery, the entire movie is a failure. The plot is average, the characters are absolutely flat and Jack's constant swearing (which annoyed me so much I kept track), didn't give me the slightest feeling I was watching anything worthwhile.

Do yourself a favor and skip this movie, if you can!

This Blake Edwards movie is like all Blake Edwards movies. That means it's fairly lame, has no particular style by which to distinguish itself, and looks like it's been airbrushed.

This one revolves around some mid-life crisis topics afflicting a middle-aged couple played by Jack Lemmon and Julie Andrews. Andrews is diagnosed with a tumor and spends the film waiting for test results; Lemmon has the hots for Sally Kellerman (who wouldn't) and spends the movie dithering about it. Lemmon and Andrews are good actors, and they almost make the film worth watching, but only almost.

Grade: C