REVIEW #459 The Life Of Chuck (2025)

The Life of Chuck

Synopsis

From childhood to adulthood, Chuck experiences the wonders of love, the heartbreak of loss and the multitudes contained in all of us.

My Review

The Life of Chuck is a masterstroke from director Mike Flanagan, a film where every character interaction, every piece of dialogue, all felt incredibly profound and overwhelmingly emotional. I spent the entire film with tears in my eyes or a smile plastered on my face and on more than one occasion, a combination of both! Each actor has a relatively low amount of screen time but they utilised every second of it, delivering some of my favourite performances of the year. The narrative structure of the movie felt unique and carefully constructed and I believe your enjoyment of the film is dependent on how fast that storyline clicks into place for you. For me, it clicked pretty quickly and I had prior knowledge that the story would unfold in reverse order, so that helped me too. My only criticism is that the cast is made up of a few British actors and their American accents were very hit and miss. The film is so good that it didn’t really affect my viewing experience, but I can’t quite give a perfect score for that reason. 

The Life of Chuck boasts beautiful cinematography, each act is captured using a different aspect ratio! So every chapter felt like it had its own beating heart, a unique style that told an independent story but was inherently linked to the wonderful life of Charles Krantz. So a huge credit has to go to Eben Bolter, who injected so much life into the cinematography! I loved the use of narration, voiced by none other than Nick Offerman, who captured the tone and essence of the film perfectly. I could list so many of my favourite moments but the crown jewel was Tom Hiddleston’s dance sequence in act two, which lit the room alight. I left the cinema feeling warm and hopeful, like life was a little bit better having experienced this film. It doesn’t have large set pieces or otherworldly themes, just a message about the beauty of life and the people we meet along the way. A must see film in my book!

My Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Thanks for reading!

Film Review Club