The Life of Chuck - Review - Review 

Rating: 4 out of 5

MIKE Flanagan’s third adaptation of a Stephen King work is arguably his most accessible and appealing yet, even though it may well divide audiences over its meaning.

Derived from a novella, the story offers a meditation on the meaning of life and is a frequently profound, sometimes life-affirming but often bittersweet experience that is sure to evoke comparisons with the likes of It’s A Wonderful Life.

It’s basically the life story of its central character Charles ‘Chuck’ Krantz, told in reverse, and broken down into three chapters.

The first is arguably the most ambitious and intriguing - even though it eventually gives rise to some of the bigger questions ultimately involving the film’s overall success.

Set during Chuck’s final days, the narrative unfolds in an end of the world scenario as middle school teacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) navigates the implosion of the universe while attempting to reconnect with his ex-wife Felicia Gordon (Karen Gillan), a nurse on the self-styled suicide squad.

Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) only appears fleetingly, on billboards or TV advertising, lending the film a keen sense of mystery and unpredictability.

But while eventually ‘revealed’ to be a part of the universe that Chuck has created for himself (with the characters of Marty and Felicia part of the multitudes and memories he has gained throughout his life), the segment affords Flanagan the opportunity to draw on bigger themes that have wider resonance pertaining to the state of the world we currently live in.

The apocalypse is relayed via news reports and conversations, many of which lament the loss of the Internet as well as the destruction of California and subsequent loss of vital food resources. It’s sobering stuff - a warning bell for what could possibly lie ahead for us all if warnings about climate change aren’t heeded.

Yet there’s also a civility to the end of the world that’s highly unlikely: neighbours calmly discuss what fate lies in store, people seek reunions where estrangement had occurred. There’s talk of suicides but there’s somehow a sense of dignified resolve.

And it contributes to arguably the film’s most poignant and tear-jerking moment as Marty and Felicia sit and wait for the end to come, holding hands as the lights go out in the universe.

This is probably the Life of Chuck at its most profound.

Chapter two follows a middle aged Chuck (Hiddleston) as he enjoys one of the seminal moments in his life: an unexpected dance.

When we finally see Chuck, he’s walking along a street, dressed in a suit as the film’s narrator (Nick Offerman) points out how narrow his focus has become. But he suddenly finds himself seized by the rhythm of a busking drummer (Taylor Gordon, aka viral drummer The Pocket Queen) and compelled to dance, even drawing on the support of a recently dumped woman.

It’s a bravura, rousing sequence that is the movie at its most outwardly joyous. And Hiddleston, excellent as ever, gets to deliver some killer moves (including a moonwalk).

The third act (or first) follows Chuck through key moments in his childhood, starting with the death of his parents and unborn brother in a car crash, learning to dance with his grandma (Mia Sara, delivering a genuinely warm turn), subsequently losing her to an early death and wrestling with his alcoholic grandfather’s (Mark Hamill) expectations that he goes into finance rather than pursue his dreams.

There’s also a mysterious room, a cupola, in the family home, which his grandfather forbids him ever to enter, and which remains locked.

It’s during this chapter that many of Chuck’s influences become clear as a teacher (played by Flanagan’s real-life wife Kate Siegel) delivers her telling speech about multitudes and life (inspired in itself by the words of Walt Whitman) and the impact of dance truly becomes apparent. The secret of the locked room is also finally (and fatefully) revealed.

Chuck is, during this time, played by three young actors - Cody Flanagan, Benjamin Pajak and Jacob Tremblay - all of whom excel (perhaps none more so than Pajak, who gets more of the dance sequences that inform the film, as well as a lot of the emotional heavy lifting).

The revelations that ensue may not be to everyone’s taste and may even prove too pat for some, given that both King (in his source text) and Flanagan opt for optimism over anything else (“I am wonderful, I deserve to be wonderful, and I contain multitudes”).

But the true beauty of the film lies in its ability to provoke conversation and to question the meaning of life. It’s thought-provoking stuff, affording viewers the opportunity to think about the people and situations that have influenced them (knowing or otherwise), as well as their own dreams and ambitions.

At a time when so much of modern life is dictated to by trends, political persuasions or social media influence, the power to be true to yourself is perhaps an abstract art form (to be free rather than merely keeping up). And, as such, it can be argued that the film charts its own path rather than pandering to what’s expected.

That it refuses to tie things up too neatly or offer easy answers, forcing viewers to arrive at their own conclusions and interpretations, is perhaps evidence of that too.

Indeed, it’s no small compliment to argue that Flanagan’s take on King’s novella dances to the beat of its own drum - and is all the better for it.

Certificate: 15

Running time: 1hr 50mins