A life-affirming, genre-bending story based on Stephen King’s novella about three chapters in the life of an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.
It turns out that Mike Flanagan’s penchant for adapting Stephen King encompasses not only the horrifying (“Gerald’s Game” and “Doctor Sleep”) but also the wonderful! “The Life of Chuck,” based on King’s short story of the same name, takes a delightful approach to the end of the world, blending metaphor, angst, and pure delight at the human experience in something of a mystery. Its heavy-handed narration can, at times, serve as a simple setup for more interesting set pieces, and this adaptation really leans into King’s on-the-nose plotting. It often delivers on story, primarily as a means to reach inspiring monologues or intricate sequences. Still, the film takes people’s breath away by pondering what joy there is to be had at the end of the world.
We don’t meet Chuck right away. Instead, the story starts with Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a beleaguered high school teacher who’s at the end of the rope when the world starts falling apart. Global catastrophes already litter the planet, so when the internet drops out, panic amongst him and his students feels muted at best. California finally falls off the continental US. Cell service and TV cable drop shortly thereafter. Sinkholes open up everywhere, and traffic gets so bad that people would rather spend three hours walking home after work than sitting in the sun. Against this backdrop, Marty clocks a billboard quaintly honoring Charles “Chuck” Krantz for his labor at his tax accountant’s office. Slowly, the end of the world speeds up. Power finally dies. Everyone gives up on trying. Marty reconnects with his ex-wife Felicia (Karen Gillan) only to discover she, too, knows the Chuck Krantz billboard. In fact, the advertisements are popping up everywhere: on TV, plastered over buildings, even superimposed on windows like some unprompted neon sign. Who is Chuck Krantz? They wonder, just as the stars start winking out one by one.
NOW we meet Chuck, played by Tom Hiddleston. One-third of the way into the movie, we’re greeted by the titular character on his best day ever. What follows is a twisting narrative delivering on the title’s central promise: telling the life of Chuck. His story unfolds in reverse, beginning with his bizarre dance sequence in a town square, then moving back to his early years growing up with his grandparents, and eventually discovering a cupola at the top of his Bubbie’s house that holds an awe-inspiring danger.
The point of the movie is less about the mystery (which will unveil itself to you intentionally throughout the film) and more about the everyday bravery of living. Please take my word for it. Every minute points to our total annihilation, whether it’s as a species or as a person, and shows that just by getting out of bed every day, we do something inherently brave. Yes, there’s a magic cupola that Mark Hamill warns us about. It’s pretty clear what the cupola does once you hear of it. This movie’s not about the magic cupola. It’s not really about Chuck Krantz billboards. It’s just one long celebration of the complexity of life and how this complexity alone makes life worth precious and valuable. It hits the same high as “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once,” where you might walk out and be proud just to breathe air.
It helps that every actor in this movie is firing on all cylinders. Benjamin Pajak’s performance lines up neatly with the other iterations of Chuck – teen Chuck played by Jacob Tremblay and Tom Hiddleston’s titular Adult Chuck – and he endears us to the character immediately. The role presents many challenges; the largest of them being an incredibly broad dance repertoire. Chuck’s dancing takes center stage, and Hiddleston’s dancing is never in question (if you’ve ever seen his late-night interviews, he can throw down with the best of them.) What’s astounding is seeing Benjamin Pajak really command the space at such a young age. Around all of them is a murderer’s row of talent given plenty of monologues to chew on. Chiwetel Ejiofor’s monologue about humanity’s existence on the “timeline of the earth”, Mark Hamill’s scene-chewing math lecture, and Carl Lumbly’s exposé on the mortuary business. Even more minor roles go to favorites like David Dastmalchian (who gets to languish the death of PornHub when the internet dies), Harvey Guillen, Matthew Lillard (in a gut-wrenching monologue), and more. I imagine when Mike Flanagan calls and says he has a bit role with a monologue, an actor starts salivating. Par for the course.
Unfortunately, the thing that holds “The Life of Chuck” back might be the thing keeping it together. Nick Offerman, great narrator that he is, often bookends the three main sequences with several lengthy pieces of narration. He’s mainly describing the who, what, where, and why with a neutral tone reserved to avoid taking away from the overall story. It’s a bit of a crutch story-telling-wise, often telling us rather than simply showing, but Flanagan’s intent seems to be exclusively having fun in the showing part and using the telling part just to push things along. That felt clear when the second sequence started with a lengthy five to seven minute catch-up on the new characters before diving into what felt like a gorgeously rendered fifteen minute dance sequence with some stellar drumming. Flanagan clearly wants to play, but he has to eat his vegetables first and tell us this story.
Ultimately, I gave this film a pass on its weaknesses, mainly due to the powerful emotion I felt watching the end of the world. Ejiofor renders it so beautifully grave as he holds his ex-wife’s hand and the two contemplate the end… of everything. Between the natural disasters, the end of pedestrian life, and the quiet termination of the will to live, it all just feels so poignant. Flanagan’s greatest success in this movie is not just setting up a mystery that viewers will love to piece together and talk about in the days to come, but in finding the joy and beauty of the end. Holding each other’s hands and just basking in complexity. I might be too much of a sucker for “The Life of Chuck” but Flanagan’s clearly having his cake and eating it too, flaws and all.
In Select Cities Friday, June 6th, and in Theaters Everywhere Friday, June 13th
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Beautiful