Reel Review: The Life of Chuck Is Extraordinarily Moving and Deeply Touching
Mike Flanagan once again teams up with Stephen King to bring one of his written works to the big screen. This time, the duo adapted a novella detailing the life of Chuck, played by Tom Hiddleston. While King and Flanagan are known for their work in the horror genre, this is more of a tender and heart touching story than spooks and scares.
The Life of Chuck is broken down into three acts, but the twist is that they are shown in reverse order by starting with the end. Act three or the start of the film details an exaggerated version of an apocalyptic, yet all too real, ending of the world. The demise of earth, and the entire universe, seemingly derailed in a quick sixteen months. While the world may seem to be in chaos, there is a quiet acceptance amongst people that the end may seem fast in retrospect, but in reality it is a slow demise.
There is a beautiful monologue delivered by Chiwetel Ejiofor about the cosmic calendar and how in the grand scheme of things, humankind is minuscule compared to the universe around us. It is comforting to know that we world may be vast, but we as humans are small in comparison. To many this is cause for concern, but to others it is a reference of comfort to know that in the end, what we do is relatively inconsequential. Our lives are for ourselves, no larger cause.
It is seeded in this act that Chuck is being celebrated for 39 great years of service through public billboards, radio ads, and in home projections. A mystery to everyone, including the audience, as to who Chuck is and what his impact on the world was to garner this end of the world celebratory congratulations.
In Act two, we meet adult Chuck. An accountant at a work conference falling into a routine of a mundane life. While walking through town, he stops by a sidewalk drummer and beings to dance. Pulling in a bystander reeling from a breakup, the duo have a spark of public connection through dance. For seemingly no reason at all, these strangers connect in a joyous yet simple moment.
At the end of such a touching moment of human connection, it is revealed that Chuck will soon find out that he only has nine months to live and that this moment will serve as a reminder to him while he is sick, that this is why God made the world. Act two was long and drawn out moment of rare bliss in a mundane world. Human nature is to get comfortable in routines, but Chuck tests this for an inexplicable reason. A cosmic force somehow convinced him to stop and just enjoy life for a few moments, a reminder we all need sometimes.
Act one, and the final of the movie, is the longest but also most impactful. Going back in time, we see young Chuck through the death of his parents, trouble fitting in at school, moving in with his grandparents, to losing his grandparents. There are so many tender pockets here that force you to revisit your own childhood and think about how things fit into your life in retrospect.
There is a fragility to life that is often forgotten on a daily basis. It is reinforced in this final sequence, not to scare the audience but to empower them to live their lives for themselves. Chuck’s life is both extraordinary and normal. Life in itself is a miracle and we should treat is as such, even if that just means being an accountant and settling down. There is an entire universe in each of our brains that contains every person, thing, and place we’ve ever seen or imagined and when we die, that goes with us. It is better to live a life filling that universe, than fearing the end of it.
Mike Flanagan has somehow adapted Stephen King’s novella into a fully human and touching story with magical elements and emotional moments. Much of the touching scenes are hard to put into words, but the message resonates none the less. Every life is special, we all contain multitudes, and we are individually a minuscule part of the universe but that doesn’t negate the importance of our lives. The Life of Chuck is both ordinary and magical, real and imaginary, out of this world and human.
The Life of Chuck hits theaters on June 6.
