Hey folks, Harry here with Enigma Boy's look at LIFE AS A HOUSE.... Now we first started hearing about the film up in Toronto this year, where it seemed to have been met with mainly favorable reviews, though there were a few that felt the film began very uninteresting but became fascinating... So let's see what Enigma Boy thought...
Hey-ho Harry dude,
It's me, Enigma Boy, finally back with another review after a long hiatus (MOULIN ROUGE in May, where I wet myself with glee). College life here at LMU (Loyola Marymount University) is kinda low, but then there are times where I'm happy to be at a place to have a film school. What are these times? When they have screenings on campus! This time, Irwin Winkler's LIFE AS A HOUSE. When I first picked up the passes, I wasn't sure if seeing a drama at 10:30 pm was such a great idea, especially at a college where people don't sleep as much as they should, but it worked. It strangely worked.
LIFE AS A HOUSE, one of the most obvious titles in a very long time, takes place in the most beautiful corners of Southern California, where the titular house has an incredible view of the Pacific. Kevin Kline plays George Monroe who ten years earlier divorced Kristin Scott-Thomas, who does the best she can to take care of their rebellious son Sam (yes, Hayden Christensen). This son is a prick, a druggie, and sometimes used as a gigolo. He has alienated himself from everyone in his life; his mother, stepfather, stepbrothers, and especially his father.
Things change in George's life, who in one day gets fired from his job of making model houses AND finding out he has cancer. With months to live, he decides to build his dream house of twenty years in the place of his what has now become a shack 'n shithole. Using his severance and selling his life insurance, he still finds he cannot do this alone, so he decides to have Sam/Anakin (it's easier to identify him with you guys that way) be forced to stay with him the entire summer and have him build the house.
The house, one of the best and also most obvious metaphors one can have in a story, is used to great effect. It isn't just a prop or a catalyst; it moves along with the story, changing accordingly. But this movie really isn't about the house.
This is at its most basic a story of a father and a son, learning new things about each other and trying to fix the problems in their lives. These scenes start off as trying waaaaay too hard as we establish that yes, Sam is rebellious and yes, George wants to help him. But then as we learn about George's father, everything all seems to make sense. There is an incredible scene, one where Sam goes through the biggest change, where George goes into such detail about his abusive father that it all worked so very perfectly. There is one line in this scene (I'll leave you guys to discover it) that just explained so much about a relationship between father and son. The parts of the movie that focused directly on this theme were my favorites because, like FREQUENCY (although not nearly as well), it hit close to home. It wasn't the specifics that got to me, but just the idea of a bond between father and son, what the true basis of it is, got me teary. It's really quite nice.
This movie hits many wrong notes in the first thirty minutes, but once it starts focusing on other characters, especially involving Kristin Scott-Thomas more in the plot, it truly picked up. Judging from the poster alone, it seemed like a retread of TO GILLIAN ON HER 37th BIRTHDAY. Thankfully, that was not the case. This isn't just a "movie about family," but also the many different kinds of love one can experience. This works best in the character of Alyssa, played very well by the increasingly gorgeous Jena Malone. We quickly learn of her loose and understandable approach to sexuality and affection, and it doesn't seem perverse. Through writer and star, it is handled so incredibly well. Her scenes with Sam in the shower (yes, more than one) are actually quite original in their approach to both characters. There was one scene between her and George that struck a wrong note with some audience members, but to me, the motivation behind it made so much sense. And as we learn more about her mother (Mary Steenburgen), the things she does seem quite normal in comparison.
Without these actors, the movie could have been complete shit. But we have a very group of talented actors, therefore not shit. Give a good actor this material, and everything will fit. Kevin Kline and Hayden Christensen play so well off of each other. And yes, Hayden is quite good in his role. I won't say "REJOICE GEEKS!" or anything like that, but just know that he is very good. He never once comes across as fake or acting. I understand this movie doesn't really prove him as a sci-fi star, but at least we know it won't be his fault if Episode II doesn't work. Kristin Scott-Thomas creates another very powerful performance. It is a tad simple, but that's sort of the idea. It's not her story. However, the story isn't just about George and Sam, because the supporting characters are given a great deal of emphasis.
Irwin Winkler, after the near-awful Val Kilmer-Mira Sorvino vehicle AT FIRST SIGHT, has definitely proven he has talent. Yes, he IS capable of making a good movie. He should really stay away from using zooms the way he does (just because it's there doesn't mean it should be used), but at least it wasn't a distraction, and despite a couple ill-advised slow motion shots, he never tried to hard. And I'm very happy he makes good use of crane shots, very crucial to the dominating setting of, yes, the house.
This is quite a good movie. It's not great. Certain parts were not insanely well received by the students here, but I feel I should've given this a bit better grade than I put on the survey. This isn't exactly a feel-good movie, although it definitely does have the characteristics of one. To paraphrase what a friend said afterwards, "It's more of a 'feel' movie than 'feel-good.'" I like this. It may not be completely true, but at least this isn't self-important dreck, which is what I foresaw this movie as being.
Summary: Yes. Me recommend. Movie good. Worth money. Mmm-hmm.
(Now let's see if I can get into the K-PAX screening next week)
--Enigma Boy
