The new movie “The Life of Chuck” is based on the Steven King book of the same name. This film successfully creates several new movie ideas that have never been seen before. There are three acts, with the acts told in reverse.
The third act is told as if the entire universe exists with the dying mind of the main character Charles ‘Chuck’ Krantz, played by Tom Hiddleston, and as Chuck slowly dies at age 39, there is an apocalypse that results in the end of the world. This idea is by far the riskiest of the three acts which also includes many billboards througout this act that show Chuck with a caption, “Thank you for 39 great years”.
In the second act, we find out that Chuck is a banker in his adulthood, and at age 39, he is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. In another unusual scene, while Chuck is walking to work, he sees a street musician playing the drums, and he starts dancing, eventually being joined by another woman. The dancing was well done, despite its highly unusual presence in this movie.
The first act is about Chuck’s tragic childhood, with Chuck played by Jacob Tremblay. Chuck’s parents are killed in a car accident, and then Chuck goes to live with his grandparents. Chuck learns to dance in high school and demonstrates his unique ability to backwards moonwalk. Actress Mia Sara (one of the main characters in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (1986), appears in her first acting role in 14 years. Also highly unusual is a room in the upstairs of the house Chuck lives in that has supernatural abilities that we find out about at the end of this story.
Given that this movie is entirely based on a Steven King short story, there is no workaround as far as making this movie more mainstream and less insane. Overall, this film was well shot and engaging enough to sit through without getting bored. The Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 82% is mostly accurate with my rating around 80% and a solid recommendation.
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