R, 2 hr. 4 min. Directed by: Irwin Winkler. Release Date: October 26, 2001. DVD Release Date: March 26, 2002.
I love this movie. It came to my attention during a phone call with my dad: I was serving active duty in California and he was settling into his retirement in Ohio. He was trying to convince me that I had made a good choice in joining the military, something he was never able to do successfully while I was in. Now, I realize that, in some ways, he was right. I’m glad that I did my part, but I wish I had considered my decisions a bit more carefully before signing on the dotted line. Life As a House was playing in theaters at the time… right down the hill from my barracks room at the theater in Monterey that’s name is Spanish for bones, or at least, the name is Osso something. It would have been easy to go see the movie, since I had lots of free time in Monterey.
I took a pass on his suggestion. I’ve mentioned that we didn’t exactly see eye to eye on movies, so this is hardly surprising. He also suggested I watch Patton, which I thought was a total snooze fest. About a year later, I rented the movie on DVD and immediately started recommending it to everyone. One of the first people was the guy who lived across the hall from me. I knew he had some parental issues, and he had a thing for dramas. I told him to watch it, but to watch it when he was alone.
He took a pass on my suggestion and watched it with his roommate. They spent the latter half of the movie choking down sobs and trying to hide the fact that they were both crying. Apparently the roommate had some dad issues, too.
Life As a House is an emotional roller coaster. It’s touching to watch a mostly-absentee father try to reclaim his son from the brink, a man who is willing to be hated if it keeps his son from continuing down his current path. Kevin Kline is BRILLIANT. No foolin’. This is easily his best performance that I’ve seen. Hayden Christensen is also remarkably good, and I normally find his chronic whining and bizznatchy behavior to be tedious, even when he’s got a light saber. There’s no light saber here, and his whiny tendencies actually work for his part. These two actors head up a supporting cast that is filled with good performances and some of the most shocking scenes I’ve seen in a coming-of-age movie. Gritty doesn’t quite explain the situation.
The grit is also a problem: it's too raw, the situations seem to play too well and the characters fit too well into the ongoing action. There's always been someone in my life, even in the good times, who stands out because they don't fit in the situation. It's not always the same person, but here, everyone fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. That synchonicity keeps this from feeling like it might be a memoir, or something that could happen in real life, and I've never met a kid who was that far astray in so many ways... but as something that's so completely fiction to be nearly fantastical in nature, there are few better films.
The grit is also a problem: it's too raw, the situations seem to play too well and the characters fit too well into the ongoing action. There's always been someone in my life, even in the good times, who stands out because they don't fit in the situation. It's not always the same person, but here, everyone fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. That synchonicity keeps this from feeling like it might be a memoir, or something that could happen in real life, and I've never met a kid who was that far astray in so many ways... but as something that's so completely fiction to be nearly fantastical in nature, there are few better films.
Watch this movie. Just make sure you’re either alone or with someone who won’t make fun of you if you get all sniffly.
