Life or Something Like It (2002)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written by John Scott Shepherd
Directed by Stephen Herek
Starring Angelina Jolie, Edward Burns, Tony Shalhoub, Christian Kane, Stockard Channing

Features:

• Director's commentary
  
• Fullscreen and widescreen formats
  

Rating: PG-13

Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Skip it.

Lanie Kerrigen (Jolie) is shallow, so shallow that she believes that having the right hair and the right apartment will bring her happiness. All that changes when her job leads her to interview Jack (Shaloub), a homeless man who claims to be a prophet. Among other, minor predictions, Jack tells her that she will die in a week. When those other predictions come true, Lanie decides that she might really be looking at the end of her life, and she decides to change a few things before it really is too late to have a life. Along the way, she finds not only herself but love as well.

If the plot sounds like everything you’ve ever seen before, then you’d be right. I’m not quite sure when Hollywood decided not to try something original, but it was probably when people didn’t go see riskier films, and we therefore have only ourselves to blame. Yes, Life or Something Like It has a marvelous message, but bear in mind that “carpe diem” wasn’t a new idea when the Roman poet Horace coined the phrase two thousand years ago. If we really need to be reminded of this idea now then the Yuppies have won. Basically, every other element in the film was also recycled from innumerable previous films, from the psychic warning to the deathbed conversion; I’m not giving away plot turns because there aren’t any. You know the whole plot within five minutes of the start of the movie.

With regard to the acting, I have enormous respect for Jolie, who can gamely act as if this were an Oscar-winning film, when her character gives her nothing new or challenging to work with. It’s amazing how she makes a rather unsympathetic and uninteresting character even the slightest bit likable. Instead of wanting to pinch her stupid, shallow head off, you actually want her to learn something and grow. Burns also does his best to enliven his stereotypical role, but even the best of actors can only do so much when everyone in their audience has seen it all before.

The features are similarly lackluster. There is a full-length commentary by the director, but that’s it. The audio and video quality are both solid enough to make this a good quality disc, but the lack of features and a decent story can’t be fixed by good production values.

Life or Something Like It wants to be charming, romantic, and funny, as well as have a serious message, but instead it’s just frustratingly cliché. This is truly a shame given the talent they have on board, but it’s just not worth the time it takes to watch it, especially since even if you haven’t seen it, you’ve seen enough. On the other hand, you do have to appreciate a romantic comedy that has the heroine tell the hero, in one of the last real scenes of the movie, “yeah, well, you’re an idiot.”