The Life of Chuck review

 

With its unusual narrative structure and philosophical story, The Life of Chuck transcends its’ ordinary sounding title to become one of those films a lot of people will treasure though others may not see what all the fuss is about.  It’s a movie that encompasses so much more than the life of one person yet in telling his story becomes a parable for all of us in our different ways. Never over egged or too melodramatic with some charming sequences and a sense of humour as well, this is a quiet triumph.

 

The film is an adaptation of a 2020 Stephen King story which, initially at least, shares the eerie worldwide atmosphere of that year which was presumably an inspiration for the author. Divided into three separate but linked parts, matters open part three which might seem odd yet makes sense as the film unfurls. In the present day the world is enduring a seemingly endless series of global crises accelerating to the point where some believe it is the end of the world. While this may appear to be a climate change story it is clear that the problems extend way beyond that subject. Even the Internet is crashing.

Whatever the cause society is breaking down and people just don’t know what to do. Given the film’s relatively modest budget (for some reason that figure has not been revealed publicly) these scenarios are largely conveyed though concerned conversations and montages of news coverage. However, what we do see- dazed people, abandoned places, clogged up roads – add a dread to proceedings. There’s a narration as well whose old-fashioned friendly tones are undercut with a somewhat sarcastic humour. As we follow Chiwetel Ejiofor’s teacher Marty and Karen Gillan’s nurse Felicia matters subtly shift from doom talking worries to the feeling of something very odd happening. Ejiofor is excellent as a man determined to find a logical explanation even as each of his assumptions keep collapsing.

As society breaks down in different ways we- and they – keep seeing posters thanking someone called Chuck for “thirty -nine great years”. These Fifties style displays suggest someone retiring from a firm yet the Chuck pictured does not look old enough to have worked anywhere for almost forty years and what’s more nobody knows who he is. We therefore think the film is a mystery which in some ways it is.

After an alarmingly sudden end of this first segment part two is a much shorter interlude that introduces us to Chuck himself – played by Tom Hiddleston- in what will likely become the film’s iconic scene. Walking through town in his business suit, he encounters a street drummer and instinctively begins to move to the beat. Amongst a watching crowd, Janice, a woman who has recently been dumped unexpectedly by her boyfriend also joins in and the two embark on a five -minute dance sequence accompanied only by the drums. This is exuberantly rendered, the two actors’ movements perfectly syncopated to the rhythm in a scene that probably last a bit longer than you expect but encapsulates the joy of living. Which, as the narrator has bad news for us right after, is worth wallowing in.

Once the latter has spoken the viewer will begin to piece together what is happening yet that’s not to overlook the appeal of part one, aka the third sequence. This shows us episodes of Chuck’s childhood much of which would be a spoiler if I mention it here though all but the less attentive viewer will likely have guessed the plot by now. Suffice to say it is material that sits on the cusp of being sentimentally homespun particularly referencing the writings of Walt Whitman. Some may find it too saccharine but stylistically director Mike Flanagan refuses to bow to the Hollywood cliché of swelling music and overly directed material. The Newton Brothers’ score is perfectly low key yet unusual enough to work.  A recurring piano motif may remind you of Dead Poets Society (another movie attuned to the writings of Whitman) but it never expands into a full orchestral melange.  Flanagan has a strong sense of what will work from something as beautiful as a vista of stars to the gloom of abandoned cars and shops.

This final part is further heightened by some excellent performances from Mark Hammill as Chuck’s paternal grandfather, Mia Sara as the boy’s wonderfully warm paternal grandmother, Samantha Sloyan as an encouraging dance teacher and most of all Benjamin Pajak as eleven-year-old Chuck who has a lot of narrative to carry which he does very well. By the end I wasn’t entirely sure we learn quite enough about adult Chuck given how much of his childhood we see so it’s a little difficult to tie the three segments together.  Though billed as the star  and featured prominently on promotional material Tom Hiddleston’s screen time is comparatively short despite his character's importance.

Being Stephen King, the story can’t resist a horror tease about a locked attic room which feels slightly out of kilter with the rest of the material. While there is a sense that essentially the film isn’t telling us anything we don’t already know- the phrase “I contain multitudes” is a repeated meme- it does so with grace and an optimism about the human condition that shines through. Its saying that we should grab our opportunities when they arrive because you never know what's round the corner. If The Life of Chuck is ultimately unsure whether it’s a feelgood story or a depressingly realistic one perhaps that’s like life itself.