[yasr_overall_rating]
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.
Admittedly, I was not prepared to be intrigued with this film that started at the end and then cycled backward from thereon to the beginning. However, at some point mid-script, I was totally caught up. The impact of the shock value of each death-intense segment seems to be woven into the storyline so much that if you tried to dismiss any segment of it, none of it would make sense.
From a young boy who witnesses the death of a woman after the bus he was riding on strikes her, to a young man desensitized by the loss of a woman he loved too much, this film permeates itself in sadness, however, each segment of it which is pre-titled by the next casualty, lends itself to the bigger and happier picture of how one life depends on another, and inherently through death, another individual’s purpose is fulfilled through generations of encounters.
Will (Oscar Isaac) who seemingly had the perfect life with the perfect woman, Abby (Olivia Wilde), has just been released from a psychiatric facility and has been mandated to take counseling from a totally absorbed Mental Health Specialist, Dr. Cait Morris (Annette Bening) who is not going to let him distract her from getting to the root of his issues. Bob Dylan’s music, which his wife truly loved and he never seemed to appreciate, serves as the musical backdrop that now guides him to his self-fulfilling destiny and to the lifelong saga of Dylan Dempsey (Olivia Cooke), future heir to the family dysfunction.
Director and writer Dan Fogelman, known for the successful show “This Is Us,” has done an exceptional job of interloping lives and giving purpose by eliminating and recreating in order to give the audience insight into death and perspective. The outstanding cast which includes Antonio Banderas and Samuel L. Jackson, make memorable scenes that give us enough depth to become totally engrossed in the back and forth time capsule that lends to a love/hate relationship with the entire script. “Life Itself,” while predictable at times, gives just enough power and drama to keep the audience in tears and laughter throughout the film, so don’t miss the opportunity to engage fully in fragmented parts that give death meaningful purpose.
In theaters Friday, September 21st
