Well, you married Oscar Isaac, so there’s a problem right there. This week’s tear challenge is Life Itself, a movie that exists almost entirely to prove whether or not you have a heart. I swear this thing is better than an EKG. Two minutes in and the average viewer will almost certainly be pushing waterworks like they already own the deed to Electric Co. Oh yeah, a Monopoly joke. You can complain now or Ventnor a bit later.
I better get the jokes in early because this is one sad screenplay. Actually, it doesn’t start miserably, it kinda starts funny – Samuel L. Jackson has a narration cameo that begins with a “hero” who turns out to be a dude who can only express himself in fantasy football transactions. Then Jackson abruptly shifts narrative focus from fantasy football guy to fantasy football guy’s psychologist (Annette Bening) who walks one block and gets hit by a bus. Oh, this is all a dream, part of a screenplay written by Will (Isaac). Don’t worry, it’s based on real life; someone really was hit and killed by bus – it was Will’s pregnant wife, Abby (Olivia Wilde). And Life Itself recognizes few public tragedies happen in isolation, so later we’re going to focus on the Spanish kid who distracted the bus driver into hitting Abby; he’s scarred for life, too.
Did I mention the Spanish kid’s mom is dying from cancer? Oh, please. That’s not even top 3 in the category of tragic parent deaths in this film. If you can laugh through the tears, be my guest. Life Itself is presented in four stages, each focusing on a different tragedy. You might ask, “Are there only the four tragedies in this film?” I think there are more, but some of the stories share tragedies, so it’s hard to tell exactly. Suffice to say there’s adequate amount of grief for two hours’ worth of film, and then some. You get some grief! You get some grief! Who didn’t get any grief? Yes, you in the back; you get some grief, too.
I liked this film. Yes, I did. I’m not a grief junkie [check it out, I used to play bass for Grief Junkie], or at least I don’t think I am, but there’s a difference between tragedy that’s coincidence and tragedy that’s just piled on. Life Itself feels a little like It’s A Not-So-Wonderful Life. There’s a feeling to this picture of the interconnectedness of all things, only the connection is about pain, not joy. This is the kind of response I’ve been waiting for: every time somebody remarks how Wonderful it is that every life touches every other life, I immediately think, “Ummm, yeah, but 
what if you’re a douchebag?” Some lives, I think, are better off not touching other lives so much – you know maybe march with your tiki torch and confederate flag by yourself, in a desert, away from cameras or press or people of any kind. I digress. These lives are about pain, not hate. And I truly believe pain is better as a shared experience even if it results in more sadness.
Life Itself is an extended look at loss and loneliness and the bubbles of hope and joy periodically snuffed out by some larger awful. Yeah, this film isn’t for everybody. I wouldn’t recommend to a single soul that hasn’t yet been tainted. But for adults and children who have had to grow up a little too fast, Life Itself is a voice and a film I’m going to remember for a long time.
♪I just love that ultra-tragic!
No hope for magic
In style sarcophagic
Why? I’m Grief Junkie!
(Grief Junkie!)
I’m diggin’ cancer victims, and -riplegic, quad, oh yeah
I don’t like a picture where there isn’t cursin’ God, oh yeah
When family man does roam
And a dog can’t make it home
When the Nazis force a choice
I cheer with all my voice
I’m Grief Junkie
Go, Grief Junkie, you’re sobbing up and down the aisle
(Grief Junkie, Go Grief Junkie)
Go, Grief Junkie, you’re usin’ tissues by the pile
(Grief Junkie, Go Grief Junkie)
You’re in touch with pain
Ev’ry day is pain
For Grief Junkie! ♫
Rated R, 118 Minutes
Director: Dan Fogelman
Writer: Dan Fogelman
Genre: 90% bitter, 10% sweet
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Bluesers/Weepers
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Pollyannas
♪ Parody Inspired by “Greased Lightnin’ “
