Life Or Something Like It Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)April 29th, 2002
LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT (2002) 2 stars out of 4. Starring Angelina Jolie, Edward Burns, Tony Shalhoub, Stockard Channing, Christian Kane, James Gammon, Melissa Errico and Lisa Thornhill. Story by John Scott Shepherd. Screenplay by John Scott Shepherd and Dana Stevens. Directed by
Stephen Herek. Rated PG-13. Approx 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Big on promise, short on delivery. In a nutshell, that sums up Life or Something Like It.
Angelina Jolie stars as Lanie Kerrigan, a feature reporter on a Seattle TV station. Lanie considers her world perfect: She's beautiful, engaged to a handsome, star baseball player and is in line for a job at a network morning show.
Then fate, in the guise of Prophet Jack, a homeless street seer, pulls the rug out from under her. Doing a piece on Jack, in which she makes fun of his gift, the savant tells Lanie she is going to die in a week.
Lanie, rightfully, is skeptical believing Jack's forecast a practical joke dreamed up by her cameraman, Pete (Edward Burns), with whom she has a contentious relationship. However, when two of Jack's other predictions come true, she begins questioning her mortality and the course her life has taken.
An intriguing premise, but one nonetheless weakened by a mountain of clichés as Lanie re-evaluates her priorities.
The weight of Jack's prognostication begins a transformation in Lanie. No longer "self involved" and "self absorbed," as Pete describes her, she begins pondering her real priorities.
Jolie's performance helps raise Life or Something Like It slightly above the formulaic. Almost unrecognizable under a blonde, Marilyn Monroe-type wig and wearing body-hugging, fashionable outfits, Jolie is a continent away from the tough, often dysfunctional characters portrayed in such films as Lara Croft: Tom Raider, Pushing Tin, The Bone Collector, Original Sin and her Oscar-winning turn in Girl, Interrupted.
Jolie brings an emotional depth and weight to her character that overrides the script's various flaws.
Burns, best known as a filmmaker (The Brothers McMullen, Sidewalks of New York), basically portrays Lanie's conscience. He continually prods her to look objectively at her life.
Of course, Lanie's private life is not as perfect as everyone assumes: Her relationship with her sister is tense, and she feels unappreciated by her father. And her relationship with her fiancé is built on a foundation of air.
All of these conflicts somehow are resolved in time-honored fashion by the end credits.
Others in the cast include the talented character actor Tony Shalhoub as Prophet Jack and the wonderful Stockard Channing, who takes the small role as the network icon Lanie is poised to replace, and nearly steals the film.
You don't need a crystal ball to see how Life or Something Like It ends. Jolie's luminescent performance is the main attraction, but whether her character and dilemma is strong enough to emotionally hold you is a question only a Prophet Jack can answer.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette. Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Internet Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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