The Life of Chuck
by George Wolf
Near the end of The Life of Chuck, a character enters a room and is careful to test the floor as he steps in. Organic dialog earlier in the film has let us know why he’s doing this, so no voiceover narration explaining the action is necessary.
This moment stands out, because it’s one of the few where viewers are given space to think for themselves.
This is a film that is impressively crafted, with an immensely likable cast and a broad, generically inspiring message that many people will be quick to embrace. Writer/director Mike Flanagan adapts the Stephen King novella with such earnest polish that the film can leave you feeling guilty for not liking it – and I didn’t.
Flanagan, who has already done stellar King adaptations (Doctor Sleep, Gerald’s Game) and whose own great work (Midnight Mass, The Haunting of Hill House) can have a distinct King feel, keeps the story’s reverse chronology intact.
In chapter one, teacher Marty Anderson (Chiwtel Ejiofor) and his ex-wife Felicia (Karen Gillan) try to make sense of repeated ads thanking Charles Krantz for “39 great years!” as the world seems to be ending.
From there, we see how the buttoned-up accountant “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) learned to rediscover his love of dancing.
And finally, we go back to two different periods in the life of young Chuck (Benjamin Pajek and later, Jacob Tremblay), as he’s raised by his caring grandparents (Mark Hamill and Mia Sara) to find joy in dance and fear of the cupola upstairs.
It’s wonderful to see Sara back in a feature for the first time in 14 years, and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear Oscar talk for Hamill. The film is often warm hearted and lovely, but the familiarity of the cosmic profundities and the constant narration from Nick Offerman reduces its overall effect to that of a pop-up audiobook.
Causes, effects and motivations are provided at nearly turn, diluting potential magic down to mundane and undercutting the power of the film’s eventual sleight-of-hand reveal.
It’s a twist you may see coming, you may not. But you will understand the surface deep lesson being sold. The Life of Chuck leaves no room for nuance or interpretation, just take your dose of bland inspiration and move on.
So yeah, thanks Chuck. I guess.
