Tag: MatthewLillard

The Life Of Chuck

Published on by DanielaLeave a comment

Based on the 2020 novella by Stephen King and directed by Mike Flanagan comes a life affirming story about a man called Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston, Jacob Tremblay and Benjamin Pajak). Told in backwards chronological order, we get to know Chuck through all the important moments of his life.

King and Flanagan are usually known for their various horror projects. People don’t think that they are behind other, more contemporary stories too. This was one that I went into mostly blind and I’m glad that I did. I knew that this was going to be an emotional roller coaster and in order to completely absorb it, I needed to be completely open minded.

Deciding to tell the story in reverse order was a bold choice. It won’t work for everyone and it certainly threw me off at first. As a result, the audience may think they’re watching a different film from what it actually ends up being. The pieces of the puzzle only really come together in the final act when Chuck is a child that we get all the answers. The little nuggets that help tie it together are really smart too.

The cast are absolute standouts, delivering solid performances. While Hiddleston may be the titular Chuck and features on the film’s poster, he isn’t actually featured that much. Still, his scene and the dance sequence that occurs during it is probably one of the best in all of cinematic history. Karen Gillan and Chiwetel Ejiofor are a divorced couple who spend the last day on Earth together. Mia Sara and Mark Hamill are brilliant as Chuck’s grandparents Sarah and Albie. Matthew Lillard, Rahul Kohli, Violet McGraw, Kate Siegel and Samantha Sloyan all had small but important roles in the story of Chuck’s life. It was nice to see some familiar faces from Flanagan’s previous works.

Overall, The Life of Chuck is a peculiar film that packs quite the emotional punch. The storytelling was well done and I love how it drove home the importance of appreciating the smaller moments in life because they are what truly matters. Just because the film focused on Chuck doesn’t mean he’s any more special than anybody else. He contains multitudes like we all do and that was quite something to take away.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️♥️

He’s All That

Published on by DanielaLeave a comment

Based on the 1999 classic She’s All That, He’s All That is the gender swapped remake that has been on everybody’s lips since news broke that it was being made. Popular girl and social media influencer Padgett (Addison Rae) is humiliated when she catches her boyfriend Jordan (Peyton Meyer) cheating on her during a live stream. In order to revive her image and get her sponsorship back, she makes a bet with her friend Alden (Madison Pettis) to makeover a geeky guy into Prom King material. What Padgett doesn’t bargain for is that Cameron (Tanner Buchanan) is unlike anybody she could have imagined and she finds herself falling for him.

I knew going into this movie that I shouldn’t expect too much. The original version has such a huge following and has become absolutely iconic since its release. I also heard that the storyline and acting weren’t very good which had me weary. Still, I was intrigued.

To be honest, I have to say that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Some of the acting really wasn’t great – I’m not a fan of Addison Rae and thought she was kind of annoying throughout but not everybody was awful. Tanner Buchanan was fine (both acting and looks wise) as was Isabella Crovetti who played his sister Brin.

It was also awesome to see Rachael Leigh Cook and Matthew Lillard in this. Despite the fact that they didn’t reprise their roles from the original and played new characters instead, it made me feel all nostalgic to see them again. I appreciated the various callbacks made to the older version as well. Some of the lines were almost identical, if I remember correctly, and the dance battle scene at Prom was on point.

He’s All That is nothing to write home about though. Parts of it were boring and predictable and I definitely thought there was room for improvement. That being said, it wasn’t one of the worst movies I have ever seen and I think people are being way too harsh about it.

Rating: ♥♥.5