I have just seen the Bruce Joel Robinson directed My Life on Starz, and all I can say is that it is the most formulaic and contrived piece of celluloid I have seen in a long time. That being said, I must also say that while it has to be one of the most contrived films I have seen, it also turns one or two of these contrived scenes and contrived performances into something special or effective.
The film starts off with Michael Keaton talking to a camcorder and telling it that he is dying of cancer. That first scene has been done before, but the way it was delivered was excellent and the first few scenes showed some promise, while they were still generic. As the film progresses we get to know more about Keaton, his wife played by Nicole Kidman, his spiritual healer played by Haing S. Ngor, and the rest of the familt. With a film that is so intent on trying to show where each character stands, you finish watching the movie feeling empty, like not one of the characters made a true impact on you. But you also have a feeling that something touched you in the film, which happened to me as well.
I think the thing that dissappointed me in these performances is that some of the material was good enough that the characterizations could have been done more realistically and more naturally. Michael Keaton plays Bob Jones (what's up with that name?) in about 4 different ways, shifting around from anger, depression, sadness, and happiness in such an unnatural manner. Although the way he goes about presenting Bob as dying was very true to life and poignant, his best work in the film. Nicole Kidman (Gail Jones) is probably in her most cliched role I have ever seen her in. She plays the sorrowful wife in such uninterested way, as if she is waiting to break out at a point in the film, which never comes up. Haing S. Ngor (Mr. Ho) is the same performance given from Pat Morita during his career rolled into one...in other words, the height of mediocrity. Michael Constantine and Rebecca Schull (Bill and Rose Ivanovich) bring their performances into the cliched zone as well, with the caring mother and the gruff father. Finally there is Bradley Whitford(Paul Ivanovich) who has about 5 lines of dialogue in the whole film, so I could barely rate his performance. I would also like to point out that a favorite character actor of mine, The West Wing's Richard Schiff appears in teh film as the younger version of Bob's father, but he says less then Whitford.
The direction by Bruce Joel Robinson is just straight-forward story telling, except for the odd off-ramps into holistic healing. The most clever thing about the direction is the handling of the healing scenes, until a sub-par lighting effect and shows how much these scenes really don't belong in the film when all is said and done. The straight-forward story telling is done in such a way that evokes memories of a "very special episode" of Blossom or Home Improvement. That is brought about the odd, almost cutesy, dealings with the devastating illness that is cancer. In addition, the screenplay, also by Robinson, is just downright stupid in some places. There are a pair of scenes that deal with rollercoasters that take away from the feeling of the film, an implausible scene in which Bob enters his old house, and the worst scene by far in the whole film that involves a circus. With all these flaws, it still got to some part of me, and the last 20 minutes of the film are truly effective in my view, while being very cliched at the same time. It is really all Keaton's way of going about these last scenes that really work. That is the reason I didn't completely blast this film.
It's hard to tell you if you should see this film or not. For some reason this film affected me, I still am confused about that one. But I could see how many would think this is a horrible piece of contrived film. If you are into Michal Keaton, "weepie" films, or have lost someone to cancer in you life, then you might want to catch this film on TV. If you disagree to all these things, then you might still enjoy some of it, but all in all you are better off skipping it.
My Rating : 3/10
The film starts off with Michael Keaton talking to a camcorder and telling it that he is dying of cancer. That first scene has been done before, but the way it was delivered was excellent and the first few scenes showed some promise, while they were still generic. As the film progresses we get to know more about Keaton, his wife played by Nicole Kidman, his spiritual healer played by Haing S. Ngor, and the rest of the familt. With a film that is so intent on trying to show where each character stands, you finish watching the movie feeling empty, like not one of the characters made a true impact on you. But you also have a feeling that something touched you in the film, which happened to me as well.
I think the thing that dissappointed me in these performances is that some of the material was good enough that the characterizations could have been done more realistically and more naturally. Michael Keaton plays Bob Jones (what's up with that name?) in about 4 different ways, shifting around from anger, depression, sadness, and happiness in such an unnatural manner. Although the way he goes about presenting Bob as dying was very true to life and poignant, his best work in the film. Nicole Kidman (Gail Jones) is probably in her most cliched role I have ever seen her in. She plays the sorrowful wife in such uninterested way, as if she is waiting to break out at a point in the film, which never comes up. Haing S. Ngor (Mr. Ho) is the same performance given from Pat Morita during his career rolled into one...in other words, the height of mediocrity. Michael Constantine and Rebecca Schull (Bill and Rose Ivanovich) bring their performances into the cliched zone as well, with the caring mother and the gruff father. Finally there is Bradley Whitford(Paul Ivanovich) who has about 5 lines of dialogue in the whole film, so I could barely rate his performance. I would also like to point out that a favorite character actor of mine, The West Wing's Richard Schiff appears in teh film as the younger version of Bob's father, but he says less then Whitford.
The direction by Bruce Joel Robinson is just straight-forward story telling, except for the odd off-ramps into holistic healing. The most clever thing about the direction is the handling of the healing scenes, until a sub-par lighting effect and shows how much these scenes really don't belong in the film when all is said and done. The straight-forward story telling is done in such a way that evokes memories of a "very special episode" of Blossom or Home Improvement. That is brought about the odd, almost cutesy, dealings with the devastating illness that is cancer. In addition, the screenplay, also by Robinson, is just downright stupid in some places. There are a pair of scenes that deal with rollercoasters that take away from the feeling of the film, an implausible scene in which Bob enters his old house, and the worst scene by far in the whole film that involves a circus. With all these flaws, it still got to some part of me, and the last 20 minutes of the film are truly effective in my view, while being very cliched at the same time. It is really all Keaton's way of going about these last scenes that really work. That is the reason I didn't completely blast this film.
It's hard to tell you if you should see this film or not. For some reason this film affected me, I still am confused about that one. But I could see how many would think this is a horrible piece of contrived film. If you are into Michal Keaton, "weepie" films, or have lost someone to cancer in you life, then you might want to catch this film on TV. If you disagree to all these things, then you might still enjoy some of it, but all in all you are better off skipping it.
My Rating : 3/10