Written And Directed by Mike Flanagan
Chuck: "I will live my life until my life runs out."
Fresh from his Netflix era and prior to a few major upcoming projects, it was time for another theatrical release from the very talented Mike Flanagan. Low and behold, it's an adaptation of a Stephen King story.
I snark but to Flanagan's credit, it's a recent story and it's a first time live action take. It's also more fantasy drama rather than horror and a nice examination into one seemingly ordinary man who died young and his story was told out of order.
Split into three acts, the third one was centred on the death of an accountant named Charles "Chuck" Krantz (Tom Hiddleston). Chuck had died from a brain tumour with his wife Ginny (Q'orianka Kilcher) and son Brian (Antonio Raul Corbo) by his side.
Of course there was a bigger issue than Chuck's death. The universe was ending and the third chapter focused on teacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his inattentive class. There was also his need to reconnect with ex-wife, Felicia Gordon (Karen Gillan) and interactions with other characters, such as mortician Sam Yarborough (Carl Lumbly) and little girl, Iris (Violet McGraw). Then the universe ended.
Getting into the second act, there was an actual focus on the title character himself. Chuck's love of dance reared it's head when he took on the recently dumped Janice Halliday (Annalise Basso) as a dance partner in the street. There was a busker (Taylor Gordon / The Pocket Queen) to provide a nice beat for the dancing duo. It's a nice middle act but had the least screentime.
The first act of course provided the main context. We spent a lot with the child (Cody Flanagan/Benjamin Pajak) and teenage (Jacob Tremblay) versions of Chuck. We saw his love of dance come from his grandmother (Mia Sara) as well as his grandfather (Mark Hamill) being afraid of what a room. We saw two of his teachers - Miss Richards (Kate Siegel) and Miss Rohrbacher (Samantha Sloyan) encourage him and even his crush on Cat McCoy (Trinity Bliss) during his formative years.
What I liked about the movie was that Chuck did feel like an ordinary guy who went on to live a pretty ordinary life, even if it was cut short. Did his death cause the universe to actually end or was it just a coincidence? I'm not really sure but the last shot was a powerful way of ending this movie.
- The Acts themselves are Thanks, Chuck (3), Buskers Forever (2) and I Contain Multitudes (1).
- Other Flanagan alumni that appeared in this movie were Rahul Kohli, David Dastmalchian, Matthew Lilliard, Molly C. Quinn, Michael Trucco, Carla Gugino, Hamish Linklater, Elan Gale, Sauriyan Sapkota, Matt Biedel and Heather Langenkamp. Mike even appears himself during a funeral scene.
- Nick Offerman provided the narration for the movie and Lauren LaVera had a voice role.
- The movie had a dedication to Scott Wampler, who passed after the film finished filming.
- Standout music: Steve Winwood's Gimme Some Lovin.
- Chronology: Chuck Krantz died at the age of thirty nine and the universe died along with him.
I genuinely think if this movie had gotten a spring or autumn release, The Life Of Chuck wouldn't have gone under the radar. Releasing it during the summer was madness. It's a lovely movie, great performances and played easily into Mike Flanagan's strengths and known tropes. I very much enjoyed it.
Rating: 8 out of 10
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