Review of Life Itself (2014) by Brett H — 26 Jan 2015

An enlightening documentary that honours the life and career of the most famous and most important film critic of all time! Roger Ebert is a hero of mine and his passion for films has always inspired me, whether I agreed with him or not, he spoke from his heart and he brought film criticism into the mainstream.

I learned a lot about his fascinating life in this documentary dating back to his days as the editor-in-chief for his school's newspaper, his alcohol addiction, and his competitive relationship with his reviewing partner, Gene Siskel.

I do wish it had gone more into his film-reviewing process and his later partnership with Richard Roeper, but there's only so much room to talk about his life. There are some incredibly hard to watch scenes of him dealing with his illness and once he loses his jaw to cancer, it is shocking how up-front the camera gets and you have no choice but to soak it in.

The film ends with a heartfelt tribute to Roger and you see all the fans and colleagues he touched with his work, and he is saluted with a standing ovation of thumbs up from everyone in the room. I will fondly remember his work for the rest of my life; see you at the movies.