Life or Something Like It (2002)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Stephen Herek

Writers (WGA):

John Scott Shepherd (story)
John Scott Shepherd (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 April 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

What if you only had 7 days to live?

Plot:

A reporter interviews a homeless man, who tells her that she's going to die and her life is meaningless.

Plot Keywords:

Reporter | Interview | Football | Airport | Beautiful Woman

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Angelina Jolie	...	Lanie Kerrigan
Edward Burns	...	Pete (as Ed Burns)
Tony Shalhoub	...	Prophet Jack
Christian Kane	...	Cal Cooper
James Gammon	...	Pat Kerrigan
Melissa Errico	...	Andrea
Stockard Channing	...	Deborah Connors
Lisa Thornhill	...	Gwen
Gregory Itzin	...	Dennis (as Greg Itzin)
Max Baker	...	Vin
Andromeda Dunker	...	Mo
Jesse James Rutherford	...	Tommy
Veena Sood	...	Doctor
Eric Snellman	...	George
Theron Zahn	...	Steve

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, brief violence and language.

Runtime:

103 min | Argentina:105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:LH | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-7 | USA:PG-13 (No. 38850) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:Livre | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Denmark:7 | France:U | Germany:6 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

Kerry Park - 211 W Highland Drive, Seattle, Washington, USA

Company:

Regency Enterprises

Trivia:

Christian Kane (Cal Cooper) is also the lead singer of outlaw country band "Kane". When Cal comes out of the elevator towards the apartment, he's singing one of their songs "Sweet Carolina Rain".

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Lainie tells her father she got the job in New York and he shows her all the videotapes he has of her. When she uses the remote to start the tape, the audio starts before the video does.

Quotes:

Lanie: Well, I hope you're happy.
Pete: Define happiness.
Lanie: Your death.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Sunny Hours

If I were going to die Thursday...

I wouldn't watch this movie.

I gotta start off by saying that I'm still not sure if Jolie's character was a brunette or a blonde naturally. All the "young Jolie" pictures show her blonde (I thought) but she's obviously not a natural blonde.

Honestly, when I leave a movie that's supposed to make me re-evaluate my life and what it means to live (like American Beauty did) and the only thing I can think about is the hair color of the star I think the movie failed. Sure, it wasn't too hard to watch and it worked out well as a Saturday afternoon hang-out w/ the lady-friend flick, but w/ Jolie I was really hoping this movie would fulfill its promise and be the engaging, interesting, thought-provoking film that it could be. Instead we see very strong similarities to American Beauty w/ a little "To Die For" thrown in for good measure and a helpin' heapin' of a John Cusack film (doesn't really matter which)

What really bugs me about this film though is that I really thought the cast was great. They were so believable (well, except for Jolie's hair, which really is a character in its own right) and their performances were so strong that as I look back on the film I really don't understand where it went wrong...maybe it tried to hard at the end, maybe all the logic fell apart just to bring about the thrilling climax, maybe it felt too much like a parody of tv news to also be the love story/life lesson that it also sought to be. Sure parodies can have morals and realistic love stories but this one doesn't.

I wouldn't avoid this film, but I wouldn't seek it out either.