Deserves more attention
Added 9/13/2009
A very moving film. I'm guessing that maybe it didn't get the attention it deserved because it was labeled too sentimental and mawkish-- but there's nothing wrong with "tear-jerker" elements that support a bigger point in the story. They do in My Life... and what point could possibly be bigger than "what makes life worth living?" (the focus of the film).
I agree with 97 percent of comments here on performance. The only thing that I would emphasize is that there are just superb performances by Michael Constantine, Rebecca Schull and Bradley Whitford as the disowned blood relatives. (Without giving up too much, I will say that Constantine's "better late than never" line put this reviewer down for the count!)
Wonderful film.
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amazing funny and touching film, I bought it so I could share with my children who are new parents.
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Good, thought provoking movie!
Added 1/7/2009
This is not a typical feel good movie considering the subject matter. However, in my opinion, it can be a feel good movie because it really makes you think and re-evaluate what and who is important in your life. At least for me, everytime I watch it, I am reminded that the most important thing in my life is not my career, or money or material possessions, but the wonderful family that I have and the time that I get to spend with them. Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman are exceptional in this movie. It's a movie that everyone should see at least once.
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'My Life 5 - Stages of Dying'
Added 12/21/2008
Bought this DVD because my son was required to watch it for a college course. He needed to site examples of Kubler Ross's 5 stages of Death and Dyingng from the film and it definitely delivered. It is the kind of film that makes you re-evaluate your own life and asks you 'What would you do? Michael Keaton's performance was great although Nicole Kidman's role was merely a footnote, didn't really matter because the story centered around and remained on Michael Keaton's character. Have Kleenex with you!!!
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Art imitating life
Added 6/26/2008
I am a blood/cancer specialist (for 25 years), and have always been put-off by most of Hollywood's attempts to portray medical-related drama on the big screen. Scores of such attempts have always seemed to me to be overly-forced efforts to wring some emotional impact from the audience, by over-done acting and grandiose "life-and-death" scenes, as if everything that happens in medicine is so different from everyday life. The simple, daily human drama that I have been priviledged to witness in my work has always struck me as something that would make a much better movie than anything Hollywood has done.
"My Life" , in my opinion, is one bright, shining exception to the rule. I saw this film when it first came out in the theatres, and just recently bought a DVD for home use- and after watching it again just last night, felt compelled to offer this review.
The story line is that of a young man (Keaton) diagnosed with incurable kidney cancer, spread to his lungs. He's a work-a-holic executive type in Los Angeles, with his wife (Kidman) pregnant with their first child. While he actively seeks out all conventional medical therapies for his disease, and continues to work (and keep his diagnosis from friends and even his own family), the disease progresses- and early on he is racked with anger and denial, aggravated by his emotional and physical estrangement from his family back in Detroit. He begins to video-tape himself, with practical (and frequently both hilarious and insightful) suggestions for living life, in order that his newborn child will know who his/her father was- hence the "My Life" title. The stages of disease progression are shown unsparingly and in a very matter-of-fact way, and for once in the movies, we see a patient who actually doesn't get MORE attractive, as he is dying. At the insistence of his wife, Keaton reluctantly begins to see a Chinese "faith-healer", and the several scenes involved with this are also rather insightful, as regards what true healing is all about.
But the impact of this movie goes well beyond the compelling and well-written plot.
First and foremost, this movie more than any other seems believable, seems real.....in no small part due to the exceptional screenwriting and acting. Though the two leads (Michael Keaton and Nichole Kidman) are clearly established, big-time movie stars, one never gets the feeling that you are watching big-time movie stars acting out a part: they say things and do things that real people do, when confronting a serious illness, and the imminent prospect of one's mortality. Bravo to the screenwriters for giving these exceptional actors believable things to say, and bravo to the actors for conveying the incredible emotions that they do, both through their words and their body language. In most movies where there are a lot of "tear-jerking" scenes I get ultimately uncomfotable, but not here. Every scene in this movie, from riotous laughter to the deepest sorrow, rings absolutely true. I know, because I see and hear the same from things I am witness to personally every day.
But there's more to this movie than just the medical story- it's also a powerful story of forgiveness, and also an almost Wordsworthian tribute to the lost innocence of childhood. The flashback scenes of Keaton revisiting the home of his childhood touches so many familiar buttons, that anyone who has done the same in their life will surely be moved to tears- and tears mixed with sadness, longing, and even joy. As Wordsworth wrote: "Though nothing can bring back the hour.....of splendour in the grass....of glory in the flower....we will grieve not, rather find.....strength in what remains behind." The scenes in this movie about Keaton's childhood have this wonderful, longing, and lyrical quality- never melodramatic or overly-sentimental either- another tribute to the filmakers.
The Chinese "faith-healer" in the movie seemed to me an allegorical figure: a means to convey the ultimate truth about serious illness and death- that real healing is not of the body, but of the mind. We all die physically one day, but worse than this is the mental death we so often die daily, through the diseases of anger, denial, selfishness, apathy, and fear.
The musical score (by John Barry) adds to every scene, and is among the more poignant and lyrical soundtracks I've ever heard in a movie. I own a copy of the soundtrack, and by itself it is a moving work of art.
I give this movie 5 stars, without reservation. If you've never seen it, and even if you don't go for "medical dramas", see this one. You won't regret it.
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