A Vida em Si

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.

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.

...because I'm glad I did!!! For some baffling reason this has low IMDB rating...I almost didn't watch because of this and boy I would've missed out on yet another brilliant Dan Fogelman story. Crazy, stupid love happens to be a go-to movie of mine and This Is Us is one of my favorite tv shows. So my husband and I gave Life Itself a whirl hoping for something similar in style. I'm pretty sure my heart exploded with emotion...in the best possible way. I LOVE movies that make me emotionally vulnerable (like opening montage scene of UP!) and this movie nabbed at every emotion humanly possible in 90 minutes. My combat veteran husband (who keeps his emotions on reserve, mind you) said, and I quote, "Next to A Star Is Born, this is the best movie I've seen all year." On top of that, the acting is superb. Grab some tissues and enjoy.

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

I was hesitant to invest the time in this film after reading critic reviews but I can absolutely say they were truly too harsh with Life Itself. No surprise but it's very reminiscent of 'This Is Us' and instead of an episodic narrative it's condensed to a two hour multi-chaptered film. While it did feel closer to three hours at points, there's a clear disconnect between the current reviews and the actual film performance. It was very emotional and most of the movie I had a lump in my throat. The way it's structured it's almost like three movies in one but the way it all comes together was so fascinating to watch as an audience member. My vote is you give it a shot, it's a really creative story.