Our take
The Life of Chuck is a life-affirming movie that will have you clutching your chest with gratitude by the time the credits roll. However, it’s also a film whose parts are greater than the sum of its parts. Directed by horror mainstay Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Doctor Sleep), the genre-bending film feels wonky at times. Sometimes it’s sweet, smart, and gut-wrenching; other times it’s overly sentimental, exposition-heavy, and predictable. It feels magical at times, but trite in others; ambitious yet somehow not big enough. It’s a lot of things at once, but when you zoom into individual scenes and performances (of which there are many, given that Chuck is played by three different actors spanning his short life), all these missteps are forgiven. From the main characters down to the cameos, everyone gives it their all and shoots straight for the heart. Ultimately, it’s hard not to be moved by the film’s absolute passion for life, its multitude, and its capacity for kindness.
The story
In this extraordinary story of an ordinary man, Charles 'Chuck' Krantz experiences the wonder of love, the heartbreak of loss, and the multitudes contained in all of us.
Elsewhere
"The film’s driving ideas, which transform over the course of the picture, are replete with ironic potential, but Flanagan ably navigates the tonal minefield, never presenting the whole thing as a wink-wink joke on his characters."
— Bilge Ebiri
"It is more a redemptive fantasy, straining to find rueful acceptance of life’s losses in the language of the cosmic sublime. It is not ashamed of displaying grand emotions and wants the viewer to give into these too."
— Roger Luckhurst
Losing loved ones at an early age, Chuck Krantz learns to live large, no matter how small his life may seem.
In a sea of a-list performers, newcomer Benjamin Pajak stands out for his unerringly endearing portrayal of middle-school Chuck.
The second collaboration by horror mainstays Mike Flanagan and Stephen King is a sweet movie about living life to the fullest - who would’ve thought!
The details
Who picked it
Renee Cuisia is the lead curator at A Good Movie to Watch. In her spare time, she likes to watch K-dramas and analyze them to death. She's also seen You've Got Mail one too many times but is still convinced it's one of the greatest films out there.
