Life in a Year

I've never felt compelled to write a review until I read some of the bad reviews for this movie. This was a well-written and very well-acted film. Yes, there's a teen romance (which shouldn't have surprised anyone who watched the trailer first); but I found it to be a whole lot more than that. I'm 49, and I connected with it instantly. Jaden Smith is so good in this performance that you feel what his character is feeling - best kind of movie. Highly recommend.

Not sure what all the hate is about! Yeah it's a story about coming of age teens, struggling with life, learning to be themselves and falling in love. And yes... The storyline has been done before and it's been done better, but who cares! This movie has a lot of important lessons about living your dreams, being your authentic self and not being afraid of what other people think. I found all the characters in this film to have depth and I cared about them and that's what I really like from a movie. I have seen some pretty horrid crap movies in my life and this definitely isn't one of them. Sure, it's no Oscar winner, but it made me feel things and that's all I want from a good film sometimes.

Cara was the reason why I even bothered to look into this film. The initial premise sounded a lot like "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)" - but it was a new take on it. A young couple from different sides of the track get to know each other and make it work; against parents, against odds and also against their own initial doubt.

The two develop enough chemistry to come across as a believable, albeit unlikely, couple. The lead actors are fine, the supporting actors were not my favorite. The plot itself plays itself out around half-time and then fizzles out from there.

Was it a worthy watch? Since I had nothing else to do on Black Friday, yes. Would I waste valuable time for it instead of doing something else - No.

This was a decent romantic young people movie. I've seen both better and worse. People just hate Jaden for the most ridiculous reasons. It debuted on Prime it's not like you had to buy a ticket. Jaden is okay in his scenes. However, he brings heavy emotion quite well. I wouldn't have bought a ticket for this but I'm okay with it being in the Prime library. The more experienced actors did very well. I do respect the acceptance without making it preachy. If you watch it you'll know. Overall, it's a decent romance movie. Watch appreciate life a bit, respect folks fighting for their lives and folks whose lives were ended too soon.

The majority of the user reviews focuses on bad acting performances and although the acting performances truly are a great component to the integrity of a movie, it still can not be the main reason to judge whether the movie is good or bad. So first of all the acting sure is not this movie's greatest virtue, but neither it's worst one. Let us just stay with saying that the casting is debatable.

When you read Life in a year's summary of a plot you know exactly what to expect. You know there is going to be a romance between a boy and a dying girl with a sad ending. You know that. You go with that. You are in a mood for that sort of a movie, or you need some low-brain activity relaxation. Movies like that purely entertain and that is great, we need those kinds of movies.

One movie critic once said that romance movies are the hardest to write. Why? Because the audience knows what is going to happen, yet a screenplay writer still has to come up with a script that in some way is going to differ from other romcoms. This movie could not fail more in this aspect. There is nothing wrong with a few cliches in a romantic movie because you expect them. They are comforting, they are relying upon that the audience just excepts them, the audience won't judge them, they just feel them. But if the movie is stringing them up one after the other the outcome is a bad movie.

You have a wild and lively parentless girl Isabelle with a terminal disease, you have Daryn, a nerd kid who needs some unruliness in his life, but his strict and controlling father gets in the way. You have a loving mother who loves and supports her son's romance and sees a bigger picture. You have two friends who help Daryn to reach his goal. Now imagine a plot. Write down scene after scene (some of them look like a music video - you know driving on a road 15 km/h so the actress' hair is not flattering in the wind), add a few cringes. Then you watch Life in a year. You probably guessed the majority of the scenes in this movie. This movie is begging writers for some sort of creativity but it gets none.