I wanted to like "Life as a House," because it was the type of film that I usually rave about. The concept was great--- after being fired from his job and finding out he has a serious illness, the main character decides to bond with his estranged teenage son and make peace with his ex-wife while building a house that he can be proud to leave to his son.
However, I had mixed feelings about the performances and the way the characters were written. Kevin Kline delivers a heartfelt performance as George Monroe, as does Kristin Scott Thomas as Robin Kimball(George's ex-wife) but I did not find myself engaged by them until the last few minutes of the movie. I did find myself engaged by George's son, Sam (Hayden Christensen), who seemed the most emotionally open of the characters. I also liked Jena Malone. As George and Sam's neighbor, Alyssa Beck, she provides a little sunshine for both the movie audience and Sam, while Mary Steenburgen and Ian Somerhalder, as Colleen Beck and Josh respectively, introduce an unnecessary soap opera quality to the film.
As for Robin's current husband and children, their purpose was limited. Robin's husband, Peter Kimball, is barely present in the film, which I guess is one of the reasons that their marriage is troubled. The children are cute, but they seem to be merely accessories for their mother, whom they accompany on visits to her ex-husband's.
I also felt that the movie has just too many badly used clichés to truly hold people's attentions: 1) the middle-aged mom who sleeps with the boyfriend of her teenage daughter, 2) the middle-aged man who undergoes a spiritual awakening only after losing his job and being told he has four months to live, 3) the angry scary looking teenager who gets his bearings, a makeover into a respectable looking guy, and a new free-spirited girlfriend after meeting said girlfriend (although the reverse sometimes happens in films: respectable guy loses his bearings, and adopts angry scary looking persona after meeting a free-spirited girl). But, like I said before, while Sam and Alyssa's relationship followed a cliché, I actually found it the most interesting part of this film, and real at some level. In fact, some of my favorite films have relied partly on clichés; so it really depends on how you approach them.
Although I must admit that this film actually did make me cry at the end.
However, I had mixed feelings about the performances and the way the characters were written. Kevin Kline delivers a heartfelt performance as George Monroe, as does Kristin Scott Thomas as Robin Kimball(George's ex-wife) but I did not find myself engaged by them until the last few minutes of the movie. I did find myself engaged by George's son, Sam (Hayden Christensen), who seemed the most emotionally open of the characters. I also liked Jena Malone. As George and Sam's neighbor, Alyssa Beck, she provides a little sunshine for both the movie audience and Sam, while Mary Steenburgen and Ian Somerhalder, as Colleen Beck and Josh respectively, introduce an unnecessary soap opera quality to the film.
As for Robin's current husband and children, their purpose was limited. Robin's husband, Peter Kimball, is barely present in the film, which I guess is one of the reasons that their marriage is troubled. The children are cute, but they seem to be merely accessories for their mother, whom they accompany on visits to her ex-husband's.
I also felt that the movie has just too many badly used clichés to truly hold people's attentions: 1) the middle-aged mom who sleeps with the boyfriend of her teenage daughter, 2) the middle-aged man who undergoes a spiritual awakening only after losing his job and being told he has four months to live, 3) the angry scary looking teenager who gets his bearings, a makeover into a respectable looking guy, and a new free-spirited girlfriend after meeting said girlfriend (although the reverse sometimes happens in films: respectable guy loses his bearings, and adopts angry scary looking persona after meeting a free-spirited girl). But, like I said before, while Sam and Alyssa's relationship followed a cliché, I actually found it the most interesting part of this film, and real at some level. In fact, some of my favorite films have relied partly on clichés; so it really depends on how you approach them.
Although I must admit that this film actually did make me cry at the end.