THE LIFE OF CHUCK
(The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival runs September 5-15 and HtN has you covered once again. Check out Chris Reed’s The Life of Chuck movie review. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)
A star-studded fantasy about life and death, in which all the elements come together in a striking finale, The Life of Chuck—an adaptation of Stephen King’s eponymous 2020 story by director Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep)—is equal parts moving and funny, and always entertaining. Divided into three sections in which the ending is the beginning, the film begins with a supernatural bang and then proves even more surprising as it continues. Featuring a cast that never disappoints, this may be Flanagan’s best work yet.
Part 1 is actually labelled Act 3—“Thanks, Chuck!”—with Chiwetel Ejiofor (Infinite) as Marty, a high-school English teacher in the middle of presenting a lesson on Walt Whitman when the planet suddenly starts to fall apart. California has apparently just suffered a massive earthquake that has sent half of it into the Pacific. When the internet subsequently shuts down, panic really sets in.
From there, we travel through the town, which suffers a massive sinkhole while news pours in from outside about further disasters. Nick Offerman (Hearts Beat Loud) is our narrator, adding a tone of sardonic whimsy to the affair. Neighbors seek information from each other, then begin to shuffle past, stunned. Marty reconnects with his ex, a nurse played by Karen Gillan (Dual), since there’s nothing much else to do and one might as well seek comfort among the familiar.
Throughout this entire ordeal, everyone begins to notice first a billboard, then additional signs, then television ads (while the TV still works), all about a man named Charles—or Chuck—Krantz (Tom Hiddleston, Kong: Skull Island), who is celebrating 39 years. Of what, no one knows, nor do they know who he is. But he is ubiquitous. The spread of his images is inversely proportional to the parts of the world that disappear, until finally, everything stops.
Quite a way to open. The next part is Act 2—”Buskers Forever”—which introduces us to that very same Chuck, an accountant who, unbeknownst to him, has less than a year to live. In a delightful sequence, he finds inspiration in the beats of a busking drummer (Taylor Gordon) and explodes into dance, joined by a young woman (Annalise Basso, Camp) whose boyfriend has just broken up with her. The three of them entertain the town, thereafter spending a magical afternoon and evening together.
While they do, Offerman editorializes about who Chuck is and why his life has led him to this moment. Aware as we are that Chuck’s remaining time is limited, we attach to these scenes a sharp poignancy, the beauty of the dance and good humor leavened by melancholy. What adds to our narrative interest is the way in which Flanagan populates the shots with some of the people we have seen earlier.
This continues in the third section, Act 1—“I Contain Multitudes”—where we meet Chuck as a young boy. Recently orphaned, he lives with his grandparents, played by Mark Hamill (Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi) and Mia Sara (of long-ago Legend fame). This part fills in a number of gaps, both dramatic and supernatural, that shed light on all we have seen before. Offerman is still present, and many more folks pop up from previous chapters. Chuck here is played by Benjamin Pajak, bringing a sweet, youthful exuberance to the character.
By the time everything wraps up, our emotions have traveled on quite the roller coaster. We laugh, we cry, we scratch our heads to figure out what’s going on, and we are constantly engaged. Most rewarding of all, we meditate within ourselves in parallel to the action on screen. It’s the best kind of big commercial movie: sweeping in scale and universal in meaning. Chuck’s life could be our own.
– Christopher Llewellyn Reed (@ChrisReedFilm)
Toronto International Film Festival; The Life of Chuck; Mike Flanagan
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