Film: The life of Chuck
Cast: Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Jacob Tremblay, Matthew Lillard, Heather Langenkamp, Mia Sara
Director: Mike Flanagan
Ratng: 3/5
Runtime: 110 min.
Mike Flanagan’s first film in five years, is an elaborate drama about mortality. In this he’s adapting a non-horror quirky novella from Stephen King’s 2020 collection ‘If It Bleeds’ which came out just after the onset of the COVID lockdown.
Unfolding in reverse chronological order, as in the novella, this is a deeply moving end-of-days take with an underlying message that tells us to value what you have instead of worrying about what will come. The mixed-genre film starts with the end of Chuck Krantz’s life, and moves back in time to show us how he lived that life.
We find the world in a dystopian nightmare plagued by natural and man-made catastrophes — a devastating 9.1 magnitude California earthquake, wildfires in Ohio, widespread flooding in Europe, a volcanic eruption in Germany, and the near crashing of the Internet, TV signals and cell service. Climate change has ravaged nearly every country, suicide rates have also skyrocketed. A couple, schoolteacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his ex-wife, an exhausted nurse (Karen Gillan) are coping as best as they can while also trying to make sense of all the mysterious “Thanks Chuck!” signs across the media, popping up, congratulating Charles Krantz (Hiddleston), on 39 great years. Marty also tries to convince parents to keep educating their kids amidst all this catastrophe.
The curiosity about Chuck has reached fever pitch. However, there is no rush to provide easy answers. Felicia and Marty, ruminate on the state of the world, survival of society and humanity, instead.
Then, gradually we learn that Chuck Krantz is a bank employee, who, in the words of narrator Nick Offerman, also breaks into a dance with passer-by Lauren (Annalise Basso) to propulsive drumbeats. The incident is a spontaneous swing session between a frustrated Chuck and the heartbroken young girl, Lauren. Its importance to the story lies in the effect it creates. Chuck is living his life to the fullest in spite of regrets. That is, in fact the standout scene in the film and eats up quite a bit of runtime.
Then, we get Krantz’s backstory — He was raised as a young man (Jacob Tremblay, Benjamin Pajak) by his grandparents (Mia Sara and Hamill), discovers his love of dance and is interested in cracking the mystery behind the padlock on the door to the cupola in their Victorian home. These revelations are not very pertinent to the end-of-days construct. Flanagan manages to create an unsettling mood but the lack in tonal connectivity is an issue that hampers the upbeat, hope-embracing effect that he desires to bring to fruition.
The narrative goes backward to track through Chuck’s life with the moments of joy and loss it encompasses.
As narrated by Nick Offerman, this story is about making sense of impending doom. As the weight of the world crashes down on us, “The Life of Chuck” makes us view the ‘value’ in existence. Undoubtedly, this film is a wholesome effort to spread joy but the foundation is rather fragile. Human existence while accepting tragedy, grief, and death is a theme often seen in movies. Here, people defined by tragedy and hardship seem nihilistic rather than choosing to remain kind and selfless.
Midway through its runtime, Flanagan tries to find answers to the existential question in the face of impending extinction. But there are obviously no answers given that this drama on embracing death and fueled by cosmic mysteries, is rather literal in its narration. However, it delivers uplifting sentiment without generating a whole deal of interest for what seemed like a dark intriguing premise.
