The Life of Chuck

6.6 - I don’t know why I failed to love this.

This kind of saccharine sweet, life-affirming, go dance with a stranger type of thing usually gets to my sensitive & sappy side easily.

Something just didn’t work. The performances are good. The set up is unique, & I was enjoying catching the call backs & referential moments as the happened. But I didn’t care enough by the end. Maybe it’s that “Act 3” to open was my favorite part with its mystery & tension, & in my opinion strongest & most direct portrayal of the central theme but I just wanted more of that.

As the narrator asked, would answers make a good thing better? Here, they didn’t. The more was revealed, the less I connected with it. The tonal inconsistency & the lack of depth to back up the “we contain multitudes” so don’t judge a book by its cover & don’t be afraid to seize the day messaging made it all feel just too familiar & too flat in the end.

It did fly by, & as I said it’s full of great performances. You can tell, as with any of Mike Flanagan’s work, his people love working with him & always give their best. There are moments of real emotion in each act that did stand out even if they didn’t piece together perfectly. Tom Hiddleston’s performance feels like a hug, & this was an incredible intro for Benjamin Pajak.

I may have to see this one again before it leaves theaters because I want to love it & I hope I can get that on a second watch. But for now, I just can’t.

3rd act was so good but the others (especially the second) were lackluster in comparison.

This is a heartwarming and inspiring film from Flanagan! So full of warmth and soul, it touches on the meaning of life and our reckoning with the vastness of it, while not shying away from the hardships that come with it. A cathartic movie that comes at just the right time!

I loved the mystery and atmosphere in the first 2/3 of it really drew me in. But the tonal shift in the last 1/3 of it following the child through his life felt less engaging and the payoff didn’t hit as hard as I hoped. Still a meaningful enjoyable watch. 7.1/10

I was definitely in the right mood for this movie

best movie i’ve seen in a long time