Life Itself

Interesting how much "professional" critics, users reviews, and IMDB score vary. That itself tells you there's something special about this movie. I thought it was excellent. It takes you on a fast & violent emotion roller-coaster, and yes, statistically some of the plot is unlikely, but the emotions rung true to me, and I don't care about statistical anomalies if they serve the story. Quite a few reviews compare this to a French movie, though I'm unsure what that means. I'm French, and I'm surely biased, but at least it's not soup: it's drama. The movie clearly offended a lot of people, which is ironic, because that's the point the movie's making: life is fierce, and it's beautiful.

...it's a surprising film. I went into it thinking it would be a fun ride. It sort of started out that way but WHOA. It's NOT. The trailer made it seem it was going to be sunshine and daisies, which is what I was needing. There may be sunshine and daisies within the film but it was more like vinegar and caskets. Not what I needed this particular day.

That doesn't mean the movie isn't excellent. It's really a great story (stories?) You just have to be one of those people or in one of those moods where you find beauty and all the good things in absolute devastating tragedies. I can be that way...today wasn't one of those days for me.

I typically watch Olivia Wilde because she resembles my murdered daughter. August is a very difficult month for me, and this movie just pushed me further into my depression. I do not regret watching the movie, but I wish I had watched it while I was not already in an abyss.

Great cast, VERY unique style and blend, insanely surprising (good and definitely bad), it's really very good.

Just go into it when you aren't feeling suicidal or depressed, you may enjoy it more.

Unpredictable, emotional, well- written dialogue, heart felt performances. When I read the bad reviews I was in shock. How can anybody not love this movie ? It touches on the essence of relationships, from the happy moments to the tragic moments. Please ignore the bad reviews and give this movie a chance. It deserves it.

RANT WARNING:

I have incredibly mixed feelings on this movie.

On one hand, ya, I see why it has a less the 15% score on rotten tomatoes. No spoilers, but there's a major plot point near the end that you really need to suspend belief in reality to believe, within a movie that is so incredibly grounded in its graphic portrayal of reality, both mundane and intense. Additionally, it's pretty sappy, and essentially a 2 hour version of This is Us.

On the other hand, I've been buying up all available stock in Oscar Isaac ever since Inside Llewin Davis, and in Olivia Cooke ever since Thoroughbreds, and this movie only cements them as my first round picks if there were ever a fantasy football style league for actors. And also this: this movie did to me what really all movies are aiming to do. It gripped me intensely for two hours, it made me feel deeply, and here I am 6 hours later, still thinking about it. So really what else matters. Sometimes I get caught up in making sure my opinion of a movie lives up to what I think a movie should critically be without looking at what the movie actually is. I refuse to do that with this movie. I liked it and the people in it. Screw the rest. 9/10

So, what does that tell us? That the only truly reliable narrator is life itself. But life itself is also a completely unreliable narrator because it is constantly misdirecting and misleading us and taking us on this journey where it is literally impossible to predict where it's gonna go next.

Occasionally I come across such a film that knows how to surprise me. At first, I wondered what it was all about. Usually, I take a wait-and-see approach and see where it's going. If there's no improvement in terms of story and it remains quite uninteresting, I'll give up. Fortunately, this rarely happens. And certainly not in the case of "Life itself". As the film progressed, it became (at least for me) more fascinating. Before I knew it, I was looking at the credits with astonishment and I thought to myself: "Wow, what the hell was this". A film that succeeds in making me quiet and paralyzed. That's quite an achievement.

In retrospect, I was somewhat surprised at the negative comments regarding this film. I do understand there are people who are allergic to tragedy, drama, and sadness in films. But the bursts of tirades being fired at this movie, are rather exaggerated in my opinion. Or is it my anarchist nature that is rebelling? Calling "Life itself" the "Worst movie of the year", is a bit shortsighted and slightly simplistic. I suppose those who did, only watched the crème de la crème of films that year. I dare to admit that I've seen much worse last year. Again it looks like a snowball effect after the appearing of some reviews of prominent film critics. And expressions such as "semi-intellectual", "philosophical ramblings" and "overly melodramatic" are copied excessively so that it resembles a we-against-them situation. Or is it an acute case of navel-gazing? Or are they all male critics who, just like Dan Fogelman said in an interview, hate films with emotions? Maybe a defense mechanism so nobody would say that their tough torso contains too many female hormones. Oh well. If you focus on the correctness of timelines and the correct layout of the different time sections only, you may lose sight of the larger picture.

I am convinced that among those notorious critics, there are some who unknowingly believe in certain things that would fit perfectly into the context of this film. Isn't it so that people speak of a soul mate who exists somewhere on this planet? That there's this one special person somewhere who's a good fit for you? And isn't the term karma used all the time? Does coincidence exist? Or coincidentally not? And then the pinnacle of mysterious power that millions believe in. The divine power that watches over us and directs our lives. I bet some of those opinion writers have used these terms before? Or that they want to save their soul every week by solemnly entering a church somewhere? Well, not me. Am I too realistic? Too suspicious? Could be. But I believe that a combination of circumstances and destiny can form the basis of a story such as "Life itself".

Without a doubt, the first chapter is the one with the most impact. A chapter full of confusion, psychological distress, and trauma. But also a chapter about eternal love. Finding that one specific person who fits you unconditionally. Will (Oscar Isaac) and Abby (Olivia Wilde) are such a couple. The living proof of the well-known saying about the pot and the lid. Until one day Abby leaves Will, and Will's life immediately becomes a mess. A ruin that needs to be restored with the help of a psychologist. It's a chapter in which the storyline wraps itself ingeniously around Will's past and present. With and without Abby. With and without the will to live. A chapter full of flashbacks. A chapter introduced by Samuel L. Jackson who represents the "unreliable storyteller". The subject of Abby's thesis. But at the same time, he plays a character from a script that Abby and Will wanted to write together. "A husband and wife Tarantino". That's why Samuel L. Jackson uses his "Pulp Fiction" intonation. And then there are some who claim that his contribution adds little to the story. well, you just have to want to see it, I guess.

The chapter ends shockingly. A blow of a sledgehammer, as it were. And from then on the story begins to spread intercontinental. From the rebellious Dylan (Olivia "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" Cooke), the end result of the wonderful love between Abby and Will, whose life is dominated by death. To Spain, where the rich olive oil manufacturer Mr. Saccione (Antonio Banderas) tells his life story to one of his workers, Javier Gonzalez (Sergio Peris-Mencheta). And although these two different family trees initially have nothing in common with each other, the two storylines melt together in a bewildering manner. But you have to discover for yourself how it all gets connected.

The only flaw I could think of is the predictability at a certain moment. At first, you don't have a clue what's going on. Once you've passed that point, you can already see where it's going. If I were a nitpicker, I would use this to criticize "Life itself" harshly. But the inventive story and the sometimes excellent acting of a group of well-known actors make this a side issue. Perhaps it all seems doom and gloom. As if real life only produces sorrow and misery. Where you experience one setback after the other. Everyone has bad periods in their lives and emotionally difficult experiences. But perhaps the message is also that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. I don't believe in coincidence or destiny. I don't believe in a heavenly power that determines our lives and sets out the route in our lives. But admit it. The way the story developed here could actually also occur in real life. Unfortunately, sometimes life is indeed an unreliable narrator.