Review of Life as a House (2001) by Ian F — 27 May 2010

Now this is a film I really took to my heart. There's something in the choice of actors that lifts it well out of tear-jerker territory, waaaay above the tv movie sentiments that it seems to have fired up in some people.

The cast are rather fantastic: it would be easy to imagine Robin Williams in the Kevin Kline role, or else his son being played by a blank cipher, but the performance delivered by Hayden Christensen and Kline are spot-on.

These are real emotions, not the colour-by-numbers stuff that a director could have gone for. Moreover, the film refuses to manipulate the viewer, refuses to tell us how we should feel, and instead lets us figure out for ourselves what we really think, believe and feel about each of the characters.

Best of all, I find myself between the generations of the two protagonists and privileged to have a foot in each character's shoes. Rare is the film that strikes a chord and then doesn't let you down or else find a miracle cure for the main character's illness and leave you feeling cheated.

LIfe As A House is content to leave us with a bittersweet ending, and with enough resolution for Christensen's character but also such open-endedness about what he might do next, his character more rounded than when he began.

Like it? I loved it!