'Life Itself' (2018) Review

As a young New York couple goes from college romance to marriage and the birth of their first child, the unexpected twists of their journey create reverberations that echo over continents and through lifetimes. 

Written and directed by This Is Us series creator Dan Fogelman, Life Itself is a film told in five distinct chapters from the perspective of five different protagonists. Before I continue any further, I'd like to preface my thoughts by informing you that I began watching This Is Us this past summer and instantly adored the acclaimed series. Believe it or not, but I had some reservations about This Is Us. I was reluctant to begin watching the series because I thought it looked like an emotionally-manipulative melodramatic soap opera and didn't feel that it would be up my alley. Nevertheless, I binged the first two seasons in a matter of days and am eagerly awaiting the season three premiere next Tuesday. I say this because I want to communicate that I'm now a fan of Fogelman's work and was rooting for Life Itself to be a smashing success. I sought out the film in spite of its scathing reviews and held out hope I might at least be able to enjoy the motion-picture. However, my faith was tragically misplaced as Life Itself is one of the year's biggest disappointments.

Marketed as a feature-length version of This Is Us, Life Itself proves to be the crude, condensed and confused version. Imagine if you took the thematic material, non-chronological storytelling, and sentimentality of the series, dialed it up to an eleven, shoved it in a blender, and then forcibly pieced everything back together afterward. That concoction is the best possible description of Life Itself. It strangely tries to be Tarantino-esque with tons of vulgarity and hyper-violence while striving to emulate This Is Us' emotional sincerity as well. The amalgamation doesn't work whatsoever because there are jarring tonal inconsistencies between the presentation and the subject matter. Fogelman oddly seeks to portray toxic behavior like unhealthy obsession and abandonment as though they're endearing when they're not. He plays some of this darker material for laughs, and it just leaves you feeling extremely uncomfortable. 

Spread throughout the film are several abrupt tonal shifts which act as shock value for the sake of shock value. I do not particularly appreciate using the term "emotionally manipulative" in my criticism because I think it's well within reason for a filmmaker to try and draw an emotional response from their audience, provided the narrative earn its emotional beats. Ultimately, the filmmaker's goal is to connect with the audience and convince them that they should care or feel something when all is said-and-done. Life Itself fails spectacularly in that regard because it never earns its emotional beats. The situations the characters find themselves in feel needlessly contrived for the sake of cheap sentimentality. Their lives are riddled with tragedy to such an exaggerated extent that it's honestly unbelievable and unrealistic. 

Not to mention the characters are woefully underdeveloped. Where This Is Us is a prime example of a series that earns emotion by fleshing out its characters and crafting genuine drama, Life Itself hardly devotes enough time for the viewer to form a meaningful attachment with any characters. Each chapter lasts anywhere from 15-to-30 minutes, mostly composed of ineffective voiceover narration spoken over romantic montages. Of course, This Is Us has the benefit of being told as a long-form episodic series, but Life Itself backed itself into a corner from the start thanks to its structural approach. Many of these characters lack personality beyond being one-note human sketches. The five chapters follow a depressed man, an angsty young woman, a careful Spanish olive plantation worker, a traumatized college student, and the narrator herself who possesses no worthwhile character traits. A narrative thread connects this multi-generational, cross-continental web of stories, but the chapters are at odds with one another as initially presented. 

Built around the profound thesis that "life is the ultimate unreliable narrator," Life Itself never dives any deeper into its superficial message. I heard those words at least twenty times, but have yet to understand the grand significance of them. Like what the heck does that REALLY mean? I don't know, and I'm sure Fogelman doesn't either. 

If Life Itself has any saving grace, it would undoubtedly be the performances. If it's any consolation, Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Mandy Patnkin, Olivia Cooke, Sergio Peris-Mancheta, Laia Costa, Àlex Monner, Annette Bening, and Antonio Banderas are all excellent and remain committed to the material in spite of its messiness. Sparks were flying between Isaac and Wilde and Peris-Mancheta and Costa in particular. The tonal disconnect is what tanks this film.

I'm sure fellow viewers of This Is Us are surprised by my incessant rambling (I'd like to think of it as a therapeutic writing exercise), but Life Itself fails in every regard which This Is Us succeeds. Life Itself is so unfathomably absurd that it genuinely needs to be seen to be believed. Amazon Studios is distributing so you can probably expect to see it on Prime Video in a matter of months. If you REALLY want to see it, I'd wait till then. At least it's covered by your Prime membership at that point. Otherwise, Life Itself is indicative of life itself- it's messy, confusing, and very bizarre.

Film Assessment: D

'The Predator' Review

When a young boy accidentally triggers the universe's most lethal hunters' return to Earth, only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and a disgruntled science teacher can prevent the end of the human race.

Directed by Shane Black, The Predator features a screenplay co-written by Black and Fred Dekker and is the latest addition to the Predator franchise. As a fan of Black's work and someone intrigued by the potential of its star-studded ensemble cast, The Predator peaked my interest after its announcement. However, my interest waned as reports surfaced that the film would be undergoing extensive reshoots after poor test screenings and the high-profile blockbuster became surrounded by a troubling controversy regarding an actual sexual predator weeks before its release. For all intensive purposes, this behind-the-scenes drama didn't significantly color my perception of the film itself. 20th Century Fox removed the scene in question from the finished film where Olivia Munn unknowingly acted opposite a sex offender whom Black had cast in a number of his movies as a friend of his. However, the reshoots were relatively noticeable, my heart aches for everything Munn went through, and I've lost plenty of respect for Shane Black.

Controversies aside, I had a blast watching The Predator! Black's latest project is flawed for sure, but it's a fun blockbuster nevertheless. While there are structural problems, the dialogue is sharp, witty, and the whole affair is an amusing throwback to cheesy '80s action. Black's twisted sense of humor has already likely offended several audience members, but his quips land regardless of poor taste. Otherwise, the action sequences are entertaining, but nothing special. They're riddled with excessive jump-cuts and often set in dark environments which made it difficult to keep track of character deaths and the flow of the fight. The action does deliver lots of gruesome violence though. A reliable indicator of whether you should see The Predator or not is if you think you can handle Black's dark humor coupled with instances of brutal action. I didn't find any of the humor to be offensive since the one-liners were in jest, but I'm emphasizing it as a make-it-or-break-it dilemma because you all know how people are nowadays...

My primary concern was that it went on for too long and the third act regressed into a series of generic sci-fi action tropes. At that point, you could tell studio-meddling completely interfered with Black's creative vision. Also, the ending stood out as really stupid sequel bait, and the CGI was somewhat inconsistent but looked reasonably good for the most part. Another weird thing I noticed is that Henry Jackman's score only has three tracks on it, totaling for four minutes and fifty-six seconds. The score didn't stick with me, and this must have been part of the reason why. 

The Predator's main draw is undoubtedly its cast, and they certainly did not disappoint. Boyd Holbrook, Olivia Munn, Jacob Tremblay, Trevante Rhodes, and Keegan-Michael Key have a charismatic comradery while Sterling K. Brown was a definite stand-out, showcasing some hammy acting chops whenever he entered the picture. Though much of the ensemble is underwritten, the actors compensate with a delightful screen presence. 

The Predator shows signs of a troubled project riddled with studio interference but manages to be entertaining enough so that its shortcomings are ultimately insubstantial. You can probably wait till The Predator's available to stream before you hunt it down, but the famed franchise extra-terrestrial has still got its edge after thirty-one years. 

Film Assessment: B-

'Operation Finale' Review

Fifteen years after the end of World War II, a team of top-secret Israeli agents travels to Argentina to track down Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi officer who orchestrated the transportation logistics that brought millions of innocent Jews to their deaths in concentration camps. Hoping to sneak him out of the country to stand trial, agent Peter Malkin soon finds himself playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with the notorious war criminal.

Based on a true story, Operation Finale is a historical drama directed by Chris Weitz which features a script penned by first-time feature screenwriter Matthew Orton. As a history buff and fan of both Oscar Isaac and Sir Ben Kingsley's work, I was surprised that Operation Finale flew under my radar until a few weeks before its release. While that could spell trouble for some, I chose to see the film nonetheless. Anyways, while Operation Finale is well-crafted in regards to its cinematography and production design, the film was ultimately too dull and drawn-out for its own good.

However, on account of the story's fascinating central conflict, that shouldn't be the case. Due to personal woes, Malkin's torn between letting Eichmann live to stand trial or killing him as penance for his crimes. It's an understandable dilemma considering Eichmann was the architect of the Final Solution, but I wish Orton had expanded on this. Though, Isaac and Kingsley compensate for the writer's shortcomings thanks to an electric interplay. After all, the film's at its best when these two actors are alone in a room together. Unfortunately, Operation Finale's saving grace is also its undoing. Whenever the focus is shifted away from Eichmann, the film falls into the trappings of a conventional biopic.

Oftentimes, the characters' circumstances feel overdramatized for the sake of intensifying the situation and making it more cinematic. This technique effectively bloats the runtime and tests the viewer's patience in the meantime. I understand that the mission carried an element of danger, but the emphasis on tension only served to undercut the filmmakers' intentions. It's not too bad at first but it grew repetitive and wearisome as it went on. Clocking in at two hours and two minutes, Operation Finale seemed to drag on with plenty of superfluous material. You could probably shave off twenty-thirty minutes and wind up with something special. Alas, the end result's overstuffed. 

Before I conclude this review, I'd like to briefly touch on Alexandre Desplat's score though. Desplat's a two-time Academy Award-winning composer, so it would be foolish to expect anything short of greatness from him. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Desplat's themes would be so lively and energetic. The percussive nature of the score really worked in the film's favor and the frequent use of xylophone was interesting, to say the least. It's an instrument that 's not utilized very often in film scores so it was refreshing to hear in a weird way. One other interesting tidbit I found while perusing IMDB was learning that he had a daughter named Antonia Desplat who was cast in the film.

While you could just as easily scroll through a wiki-page and get the gist of the entire affair, history buffs will consider Operation Finale well worth the watch for its depiction of these harrowing events. A leaner version of this film which focused on the team's dilemma to protect Eichmann probably would have been more interesting though. 

Film Assessment: C+

'Searching' Review

David Kim becomes desperate when his teenage daughter Margot disappears and an immediate police investigation leads nowhere. He soon decides to search the one place no one else has - Margot's laptop. Hoping to trace her digital footprints, David contacts her friends and peruses her Internet activity for any possible clues to her whereabouts. 

Searching surfs the silver screen as a feature debut for writer-director Aneesh Chaganty and is the latest entry in the emerging genre-wave of screen-life films. As Hollywood continues its rigorous search for the next big thing, the screen-life format has presented itself as a promising prospect. These stories are showcased entirely from the perspective of a digital device and follow the protagonist as they tweet, text, and browse the web. Anything you can see or do on a smartphone, tablet, or laptop is fair game... Searching isn't the first film to be made in this mold and it certainly won't be the last, but Searching differentiates itself from the rest of the pack by focusing on unraveling a mystery. 

I realize the approach may sound gimmicky, but it's actually quite engaging. Every click and scroll David makes is subsequently registered in the viewer's mind as the audience racks up as many clues as they possibly can. Believe it or not, but watching someone surf the web for nearly two hours surprisingly doesn't get stale. Thanks to a sentimental opening and an exceptional lead performance, the search for Margot is one which you'll be riveted by and emotionally-invested in. The journey naturally has its twists and turns which cause David to undergo his own fair share of ups and downs, but you'll be with him every click of the way. It's an incredibly immersive experience, and while that can certainly be attributed to all who worked on the film, John Cho's powerful performance, Aneesh Chaganty's attentive execution, and the script penned by Chaganty and Sev Ohanian make one hell of a difference in the grand scheme of things. 

Occasionally, Chaganty is restricted by the format so things conveniently have to appear onscreen in order to advance the plot, but these instances are few and far between. For the most part, David's Internet activity feels authentic since he instinctively would scour every webpage imaginable in hopes of uncovering a clue to his daughter's location. To say any more would risk spoiling the outcome, but it should be noted that the cast does a fine job across the (key)-board. 

As both an investigative story and digital-thriller, I found Searching to be quite "Ctrl-F5"-ing ("refresh"-ing for those who don't know computer commands). If the screen-life format intrigues you, then you should definitely seek this film out!

Film Assessment: A-

'Slender Man' Review

I apologize for my near three-week absence, but classes recently started for me and I subsequently procrastinated writing a few reviews (this film included). In the time since I last shared a review, I've seen Slender Man, Searching, and Operation Finale. You can expect reviews for the other two relatively soon, so keep an eye out for those. Once I'm caught up, you can expect my reviews to be published on a more regular basis like you're probably used to. 

'Slender Man' Review

A group of friends fascinated by the Internet lore of the Slender Man attempt to prove that he doesn't actually exist... until one of them mysteriously goes missing after summoning the entity...

Based on the formerly popular "creepypasta," Slender Man is directed by Sylvain White and features a screenplay penned by David Birke. As I'm sure you're also thinking, it can't be overstated just how late this film is in terms of pop-culture relevance. The last time I saw or heard of anything Slender Man-related prior to the marketing of this film was probably in the early fall of 2012. After that, the fictional being's popularity plummeted. In fact, I never cared much for Slender Man myself. It just seemed like another pointless fad that died out quickly after peaking in popularity.

Cutting straight to the chase, Slender Man is hardly a horror film worth seeing. There's occasionally some unsettling imagery to be found, but that's about it. Nothing noteworthy happens within the ninety-minute runtime, the characters are incredibly uninteresting, and there's no narrative flow so that hour and a half feels twice as long. Four girls summon Slender Man and he then haunts them individually. Rinse and repeat three more times. As a result, the story structure comes across as jumbled and repetitive. In addition to a boring and familiar central storyline, Slender Man juggles several other unnecessary and irrelevant plot-threads that just act to bog down the film. You'll be bored out of your mind within minutes and that feeling unfortunately never goes away... It's just a dull affair all around.

Beyond boredom, Slender Man failed to elicit any other reaction from me. As the film sluggishly dragged on, it became more apparent that it was clearly made as a cheap cash-grab. For only $10 M, Screen Gems and Sony Pictures likely thought they'd be able to coast on the recognizability of the IP and turn a profit opening weekend. Almost a month later, Slender Man has grossed a worldwide total of $43 M ($11 M of which came from opening weekend box office receipts). Otherwise, Slender Man features passable performances from Joey King and Julia Telles. Their characters were severely underwritten, but King and Telles rise above the material provided and convincingly act rather distraught. 

Sufficed to say, you'll be hard pressed to find a film released this year more forgettable than Slender Man. I, for one, was indifferent towards everything which occurred onscreen. It truly was half-baked cinematic creepypasta. 

Film Assessment: D