Review by Paul Salfen
This is Paul Salfen with your KLAK Movie Minute. In theaters this weekend is The Life of Chuck, what’s being advertised as a life-affirming masterpiece and the best Stephen King adaptation ever, to which it should be said, “pump the brakes.” Is it life-affirming? Sure. A masterpiece? Not quite. And certainly not the best King adaptation. It does have some incredibly strong points including yes, some very fun dance sequences and a strong performance by Tom Hiddleston and a great turn from Mark Hamill but, like many films that are based on a short story, they feel a little stretched out. In this case, it’s the presentation that’s wonky. Although Mike Flanagan is a great King collaborator, this one gets a little convoluted by putting the end of the story at the beginning and going backwards, which at the end begs the question of why given the impact that would have been felt otherwise with a big screen presentation. While not much can be revealed without spoilers, it follows the life of Charles Kranz and takes many twists and turns like life does that sees love, death, pain, sadness, joy, and everything in between, with a great bit of contemplation about the human existence and meaning of life that gets deep but for some reason misses the mark on the emotional connection that, say, Stand By Me or The Shawshank Redemption had. I’m all for films with a good message and ones that make you feel, but this one should have given everyone all of the feels and it just didn’t. That’s it for this week. Join me next week and every week for another Movie Minute right here on 97.5 KLAK, AMFM Magazine, and RECRD.
