Life as a House (2001)
Directed by Irwin Winkler
When a man is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he takes custody of his misanthropic teenage son, for whom quality time means getting high, engaging in small-time prostitution, and avoiding his father.
3 connections found
View:
3 connections, in both directions
What critics compared Life as a House to
Simple, personal stories can work on the big screen if there are elements of greatness in them (i.e., American Beauty ).
George's personal journey is often put on the back burner in favor of sexual hijinks reminiscent of both "American Beauty" and "Three's Company."
He might as well be talking about this film, a weepy melodrama/comedy that is not only the most transparently obvious movie in recent memory, but it also swipes heavily from "The Ice Storm" and "American Beauty."
Engaging, metaphor-laden, dysfunctional family drama with a strong resemblance to American Beauty – it succeeds in (narrowly) avoiding the pitfalls of sentimental weepie-dom largely thanks to the quality of its performances.
There are eerie shadowings of American Beauty at work here, from the premise of a man near the end of his life trying to live it to the fullest to the final existentialist voice over and all the quirky twists in between.
Like American Beauty only cuter, it follows a man's mid-life crisis and ensuing rebirth (in this case, precipitated by a terminal illness), as well as his reconnection with maladjusted son (Hayden Christensen, a.k.a.
He's a renowned producer who's been behind some terrific movies over the years, everything from "Rocky" (1976) to "Raging Bull" (1980) to "The Right Stuff" (1983).
Cineast Factor: Irwin Winkler produced Rocky, Raging Bull, The Right Stuff and Goodfellas.
DeHaan where’s every ounce of pain on his face, similar to Hayden Christiansen in Life as a House (2001).