Life as a House (New Line Platinum Series)
by Irwin Winkler
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Hayden Christensen, Jena Malone, Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas, Mary SteenburgenDirector: Irwin Winkler
Cinematographer: Vilmos Zsigmond
Producer: Irwin Winkler
Producer: Brian E. Frankish
Producer: Lynn Harris
Producer: Michael De Luca
Producer: Rob Cowan
Writer: Mark Andrus
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 125 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-03-26
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: New Line Home Video
Movie Reviews of Life as a House (New Line Platinum Series)
Movie Review: If you're not afraid to cry...
Summary: 5 Stars
If you're not afraid to cry, this may be the film for you. I've read a number of positive and negative reviews of the movie and they seem to be split along the lines of those who can get into the emotions of the characters and those who stand back and judge the events as sappy. It might be interesting to know the ages and sexes of the reviewers.
Count me in as one who loved the film. I am a big fan of Kevin Kline. I've never seen him give a bad performance. Here he shines, once again, as a troubled fellow, George, whose life was given a bad start by his abusive father. He has managed to hold down a job as a model-builder in an architect's office for twenty years but admits that he has hated every moment of it. He seems to be a failure all over the place. His marriage broke up ten years earlier; his beautiful wife Robin,(Kristen Scott Thomas) has moved on to a life of luxury with another man and two more children. Sam, the son they had together is a drugged out teen who makes life miserable for everyone around him; even his mother can't stand him. George's condition is perfectly symbolized by his unpainted shack of a house, which is the eyesore of the beautiful Malibu neighborhood.
As life would have it, this depressing situation comes to a head one very bad day when George loses his job in the morning, and then collapses and hears that he only has a few months left to live. But, in the spirit of the film "sometimes good things come out of bad." At least George decides to make the most of his last months. This takes the form, initially, of tearing down the shack and replacing it with something he would really like to build. In the process, he re-esatablishes contact with Sam (beautifully played by Hayden Christensen), and Robin and the whole bunch which was dysfunctional in the extreme, come together in a more loving, meaningful way.
I admit that even I found the ending a little too much, but if the intention of the film is to show human redemption, then it succeeded admirably. George has broken the effects of parental neglect by refusing to pass it on to his son. Then Sam makes amends for a terrible act that George's father committed years before. It's a wonderful story, very well acted by all the principles and definitely worth seeing. It is visually quite gorgeous too; sunny Southern California is looking its best.
Summary of Life as a House (New Line Platinum Series)
Confronted with life-changing news a middle-aged architect seizes the opportunity to begin living life on his own terms as he builds the house of his dreams and winds up rebuilding the world around him in the process. Special features: two original documentaries: deleted scenes and much more. Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 09/26/2006 Starring: Kevin Kline Kristin Scott-thomas Run time: 124 minutes Rating: R Director: Irwin WinklerA respectable tearjerker, Life as a House is a welcome throwback to angst-ridden family dramas like Ordinary People and Terms of Endearment. It falls short of those modern classics, but you'll probably still need Kleenex if you appreciate Kevin Kline's underrated dramatic skills. As the title suggests, Kline's project is a broad metaphor for repairing damaged lives from the foundation up. Playing an architect with terminal cancer, he gives an Oscar?-caliber performance, reaching out to his estranged, nihilistic son (future Star Wars star Hayden Christensen) and ex-wife (Kristin Scott-Thomas) as he wrecks and rebuilds the Malibu cliff-top home that contained his most painful memories. Director Irwin Winkler's flair with actors helps to minimize lapses in a script (by As Good As It Gets scribe Mark Andrus) that occasionally borders on maudlin. Overall, this is a fine reminder that Hollywood hasn't lost its soul to action and special effects. --Jeff Shannon
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