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Life Itself Image

Life Itself

Release Date:
21
Metascore
 39 reviews
5.5
User Score
 49 ratings

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Director: Dan Fogelman
Writer: Dan Fogelman
Production: Temple Hill Entertainment
Movie Details: Life Itself centers on a couple (Oscar Isaac and Olivia Wilde) that lead a multi generational love
Life Itself centers on a couple (Oscar Isaac and Olivia Wilde) that lead a multi generational love story spanning both decades and continents, from the streets of New York to the Spanish countryside, and are all connected by a single event.
Genre(s): Drama Romance
MPAA Rating: R
Production: Temple Hill Entertainment
Runtime: 117 min
Official Site: https://www.lifeitself.movie/
Country: US
Languages: English Spanish
Director: Dan Fogelman
Writer: Dan Fogelman
Starring:
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Critic Reviews
(39)
21
Metascore Generally unfavorable reviews
1 Positive Ratings 2%
8 Mixed Ratings 20%
30 Negative Ratings 76%
Based on 39 Critic Reviews View All
75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli | Sep 20, 2018
"Life Itself starts out with great promise – a dizzying first act that creates the tapestry of a character’s life by offering a kaleidoscope of moments from his past. It’s poignant, effective, and punctuated by actions that are breathtakingly sudden and unexpected. However, after the strong beginning, the movie takes a conventional turn." ... Read full review
50
The Playlist
Gregory Ellwood | Sep 11, 2018
"Fogelman clearly gets a thrill in constructing a tapestry full of one random tragedy after another (seriously, almost nothing good seems to happen to these people long term). And he also appears to love manipulating the audience’s emotions with these subsequent tragedies." ... Read full review
40
Screen Daily
Allan Hunter | Sep 11, 2018
"Some of the wit and emotion strikes home and the longer we spend with individual characters the more their story resonates." ... Read full review
25
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips | Sep 20, 2018
"Life Itself is an emotional mugging, not a movie. " ... Read full review
25
San Francisco Chronicle
David Lewis | Sep 21, 2018
"The rambling Life Itself is a multigenerational drama about the messiness of life, but the emotional impact of the movie gets lost in the messiness of its screenplay. And though there is not one subpar acting performance, the film itself comes off as an exercise in self-consciousness." ... Read full review
20
The Telegraph
Tim Robey | Jan 10, 2019
"he film's indulgences are so heart-on-sleeve that it's hard to differentiate watching it from hearing someone pitch their very bad screenplay ideas with no attempt to read the room." ... Read full review
0
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers | Sep 19, 2018
"How do you rate a cinematic black hole that doesn’t deserve a single star? Do you simply give it five eyerolls? Better question: How does a movie, with all the talent in the world going for it, become a such a blithering botch job? " ... Read full review
Critic Reviews
User Reviews
(21)
5.5
User Score Mixed or average reviews
23 Positive Ratings 46%
6 Mixed Ratings 12%
20 Negative Ratings 40%
Based on 49 Ratings and 21 Reviews View All
10
ifritforce
Dec 23, 2018
Una historia hermosa narrada impecablemente, no comprneo las criticas si fue muy bien narrada
10
Rusuien
Jul 14, 2020
This film is an absolute masterpiece. It consists of intricate story telling and connects it's intertwining stories into a beautiful andThis film is an absolute masterpiece. It consists of intricate story telling and connects it's intertwining stories into a beautiful and emotional journey. This film is not about the ending or the climax and doesn't conform to conventional story telling, but that should not take away from it's creative writing and tear jerking moments.… Expand
10
RyanGimeson
Sep 27, 2018
I'm giving this a 10 because the performances and dialogue in this film are of consistently high quality, and because these low reviews areI'm giving this a 10 because the performances and dialogue in this film are of consistently high quality, and because these low reviews are ridiculous. People keep saying their emotions feel fake; no they do not, and if you still don't buy the authenticity, that would be because they're actors playing characters, not real people. Seriously though Olivia Cooke is BRILLIANT in this same with Oscar Isaac and Antonio Banderas. I get it if this isn't ur thing the philosophical approach this film takes can be overbearing for some people but I thought it made for a well crafted screenplay complemented by gorgeous cinematography and stunningly real characters. A little predictable for sure, but it has a real, beating heart. I'm gonna remember this film for a while.… Expand
6
JackusBlackus
Sep 28, 2018
In short, the film is watchable and even enjoyable in some respects due to good individual performances and good dialogue; however, I found itIn short, the film is watchable and even enjoyable in some respects due to good individual performances and good dialogue; however, I found it to difficult to remain engaged for several reasons.

First, the various stories seem unrelated with only minor interactions. The transitions are abrupt, ending one story and then moving onto the next. While the plot ties them all together in the end, waiting for it takes some effort.

Second, all of the stories are centered around tragedy and I just stopped caring at some point.

Third, with the amount of time spent on the "unreliable narrator" device in the beginning, I expected (or even hoped for) it to play a significant role in the movie, but it doesn't. Sure, there is a little twist in the end that ties it all together, but it is ineffective and unimportant.

Finally, the resolution at the end that ties everything together was a disappointment.… Expand
4
PPrat
Oct 10, 2021
Really very good movie... deep and well written... happy to see IMDb with 69% positive, and the Google viewers at 87%
3
JLuis_001
Jun 16, 2022
Life Itself is the sad kind of drama that pushes and shoves melodramatic and harsh situations in order to make you identify with them and careLife Itself is the sad kind of drama that pushes and shoves melodramatic and harsh situations in order to make you identify with them and care about their characters, because it's incapable of genuinely building its momentum.

Those reasons and their gross exaggeration make this film both meaningless and artificial.

Good cast, squandered again.… Expand
0
The3AcademySins
Feb 3, 2019
Life Itself is easily the worst movie of 2018. It is also one of the most offensive, insulting, and insipid movies I have ever had theLife Itself is easily the worst movie of 2018. It is also one of the most offensive, insulting, and insipid movies I have ever had the misfortune of watching. Dan Fogleman's script is nothing short of emotionally manipulative drivel. I almost can't believe that he wrote and directed this hack-job.

The biggest problem with Life Itself is that it doesn't trust the audience to understand and make connections with the characters. It sets up contrived plot devices and tragedies with no originality and then has the balls to laud itself unironically as "unique and original." It has the unmitigated STONES to compare itself to Pulp Fiction. This movie is nothing like Pulp Fiction. If anything, Life Itself is a less-good rip-off of 500 Days of Summer and Manchester By The Sea, but it doesn't even understand how those two movies work.

The premise of Life Itself is that there are two families tied together by a single traumatic event. Characters are drowned in horrible tragedies, there is a Spanish sub-plot that feels tacked on, and the fact that the script tries to tie it all together at the end to make a profound statement is so degrading that the only real tragedy is that I wasted my time watching this movie at all. The movie's theme is "Life Itself is the ultimate unreliable narrator." The movie has no problem spoon-feeding you this theme and saying it out loud word-for-word multiple times during the movie. Talk about a stupid waste of a title-drop. I loved This Is Us, but now I am convinced that Dan Fogelman is a jack off.… Expand
User Reviews