'The Life of Chuck' A Review

The Life of Chuck is a SFF drama about the titular Chuck told in reverse chronology in three acts, based on the Stephen King story of the same name. The film opens on the last days of the apocalypse, the middle section features Chuck(Tom Hiddleston) during a business trip as an adult, and the third section features Chuck as a child through his teenage years.

Hiddleston is nominally the face of the movie even though he doesn't get much more screentime than any of the other ensemble and he, unfortunately, is the only one kinda miscast. He's a name which presumably helped the film get made(so kuddos on that front) but dramatically he's a little wooden, a little stiff, and doesn't project the kind of everyman gravitas that the role requires(that say narrator Nick Offerman definitely does). It works OK and the biggest sequence in the movie, the dance, is impressive, his performance in general leaves a bit to be desired. The rest of the cast however are all pretty much pitch-perfect with many of writer/director Mike Flanagan reparatory players making appearances- Mark Hamill, Hamish Linklater, Kate Siegel, Samantha Sloyan, Carl Lumbly- to name a few as well as A-listers Chiwetel Ejiofor and Karen Gillan. The list goes on and they are all great, unified under one vision of empathy, compassion, and the theme of the film which is that human life has value and meaning regardless of it's scope.

Like a lot of Flanagan's work there are some stand out sequences, overall decent visuals, but there is a kind of saturated color pallet that can evoke a TV movie cheapness that is a bit distracting. The score is subtle and effective, the locations(shot in Alabama) are pretty bland and uninspired but functional, and there's minimal effects(in the first sequence) which is welcome. The source material is unconventional and this relatively faithful adaptation is as well and as a result it's not always coherent, what comes together in the imagination when reading isn't as easily tied together when made explicit onscreen, the tone management is a bit uneven. There are some really powerful emotional moments but others that veer maudlin or saccharine, sections of Offerman's VO really work others come across ham-fisted. But overall the earnestness of the message is what comes through and that message is potent and needed during our current divisive times.

An imperfect, stirring, celebration of humanity. Perhaps overly complicated structurally and overly simple thematically.

Currently in theaters.

Rent It.