Life Itself
More Movies Please!
English - October 26, 2020 15:00 - 1 hour - 34.7 MB - ★★★★★ - 9 ratingsFilm Reviews TV & Film Arts Visual Arts conversation theater film filmmaking movies Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
On the podcast this week, Steven and Sean are living with pain, sadness, and occasionally beautiful hope across many lifetimes in the 2018 film by Dan Fogelman, Life Itself.
If there’s ever been a sadder character than the one Oscar Isaac plays in this film, then I don’t know who that could be. I don’t think I want to ever meet that person. Seriously, dude loses his wife, nearly loses his child, is institutionalized, and then starts imagining things that are, let’s say, less than true. And even that’s not everything going on with this guy!
It’s okay, though, because we balance out the Oscar Isaac sadness with some Sergio Peris-Mencheta sadness. Antonio Banderas’s character has got the respectful hots for his character’s wife and he just can’t stand it because he feels he can’t provide her the same sort of life his rich employer can. She loves him, though. Why can’t he just see that? Come on, Javier González! You’re good for her!
It’s okay, though, because we balance out that sadness with teenage angst and anger. Turns out the child that was nearly lost earlier makes a fine recovery and grows up to be an understandably angry young woman. She grew up without parents, is dealing with teenage hormones, and just wants to mess shit up. Who can blame her?
It’s okay, though, because we balance out that sadness with the wonderful young man that Javier and his wife Isabel’s child becomes. He may have faced some trauma in his early years, but he ends up meeting the angsty teenager, they fall in love, and the sad streak fades away. Finally.
Phew, this one has a lot of heavy emotions. Like, a lot, a lot. There’s a reason why this episode is subtitled “Beautiful Chaos.” There’s a hefty dose of harsh reality in this one. Hey, at least we’ve got some amazing Samuel L. Jackson narration at the beginning of this one. That helps lighten the mood, doesn’t it?
Don’t watch this film without a box of tissues nearby. You’ll need them. While it may have been a heavy one, it was still made very well. Steven and Sean both loved the look and sound of it. This is one that’s going to stick with you for a long time.
(Recorded on September 3, 2020)
Links to Stuff We Mentioned:
Life, the Universe, and Everything - Wikipedia
The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything - Wikipedia