The Life of Chuck is based on a Stephen King novella… only I didn’t know that going in. It quickly scrambled some brain cells and I went, “Oh yeah, that odd disjointed story from one of his recent books.” And I didn’t realize until credits rolled that it’s a Mike Flanagan movie. Leave it to him to turn such an odd story into something magical.
The Life of Chuck tells its story backwards, hanging the concept of “what’s it about” on a wire. It’s like King contained a multitude of short story ideas that he glued into one three part novella… and Flanagan walked in and said “perfect. no notes”. Honestly, what he made worked better visually than as a King novella (Sorry, Uncle Stevie).
Without going into too much detail, it begins with a slowpocalypse. The world is falling apart, the internet is down, suicide rates are up. What exactly is going on is a mystery and, as things get worse, thank-you signs to Chuck for 39 great years appear on billboards. Who is Chuck? No one knows.
This act is remarkable because it’s so quiet and sad… this isn’t a big FX apocalypse… it’s just the world winding down.
The second act is my favorite… it contains a long dance sequence of transcendent wonder. I actively marveled at how much time the film devotes to it. This isn’t a film that’s going to connect with everyone and this segment and the smile on my face made me not care. I hope everyone can let this very odd story structure roll over them and appreciate the beauty and wonder of great moments.
The final act continued to surprise but might feel the most disjointed. But, again, I didn’t care since it has such a unique set of ideas… things you wouldn’t expect from a Hollywood movie that’s constantly tricking you into trying to guess what’s its all about.
The cast is full of great actors, many of whom we haven’t seen on screen in a while. I kept going, “who’s this now?” as I dredged the names up from the past. It’s an odd ensemble consisting of current stars like Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Karen Gillan but also folks like Mia Sara, Mark Hamill, and Mathew Lillard. Nick Offerman plays the narrator and we have a number of familiar actors from Mike Flannagan’s repertoire.
I love this film and I hope other people can feel the melody and magic I felt. The fact that there mustn’t have been studio notes for such an abstract and oddly constructed film makes it amazing all by itself. I just hope people don’t see it as a mess… Uncle Stevie wrote a challenging story to adapt and I’m surprised they did it. Surprised and pleased.
Score: 95