August 23, 2025
"The Life of Chuck" was one of the four novellas Stephen King included in his 2024 book "If It Bleeds." It was a major shift of style and substance for director Mike Flanagan, whose filmography consisted of horror films like "Oculus" (2013) and "Doctor Sleep" (2019). More recently, he is more known as the creator of well-received horror series on Netflix, from "The Haunting of Hill House" (2018) to "Fall of the House of Usher" (2023).
In Act Three "Thanks Chuck," we first see California is sinking into the ocean and the internet is totally down. Teacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and his ex-wife nurse Felicia Gordon (Karen Gillan) discuss how the whole history of mankind fits in the last hour and a half of December 31, assuming the Big Bang happened on January 1. Meanwhile, ads were thanking Chuck Krantz "for 39 great years" were appearing everywhere.
In Act Two: "Buskers Forever," we see that chance magical encounter of three strangers on the Eighth Street Promenade. One was drummer Taylor Frank (Taylor Gordon) who set up there to busk for cash while playing drums. Second was Janice Halliday (Annalise Basso), an employee at the Paper and Page who was just dumped by her boyfriend by text. Third was none other accountant Chuck Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) attending a conference there.
Act One: "I Contain Multitudes" brings us back to the childhood of Chuck Krantz (Jacob Tremblay, Benjamin Pajak, Cody Flanagan at ages 17, 10 and 7) growing up under the care of his grandparents, accountant Albie (Mark Hamill) and dancer Sarah (Mia Sara) Krantz. There was a cupola in their house which was kept locked, which made Chuck even more curious about it. In school, Chuck joined the "Twirlers and Spinners" dancing club under Miss Rohrbacher (Samantha Sloyan), where he met his crush Cat McCoy (Trinity Bliss).
The movie was presented as how the novella was written -- in reverse order, which made things more thought-provoking than they already were. There were a number of themes we see in more than one Act, such as Carl Sagan and his Cosmic Calendar, Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself," as well as side characters, like the girl on roller skates, and Mr. Sam Yarborough (Carl Lumbly), the mortician. Narrator Nick Offerman helped us navigate through.
This film told the highlights of Chuck's life, but it was more philosophical than narrative. Our brains contain everything we see and know, the whole world we build as we are living. Yet, we may not be able to explain our every impulsive decisions. We may be able to see the future before it happens, but the interminable waiting for it to happen will be tough. But then, there was all the dancing scenes, and those were so relaxing to watch. 9/10
No comments:
Post a Comment