Life as a House

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FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 196 WIDTH="495"><div> <IMG SRC="fe982800.jpg" border=0 width="130" height="128" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005R8DM/reelmoviecriticc">Life as a House Soundtrack</A>  </div> <div>  <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/b00005yupc/reelmoviecriticc">Life as a House on DVD</A>  </div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 20 WIDTH="575"><div> <B>Life as a House </B>*** ( R )</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="575"><div> Reviewed By George O. Singleton</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="549" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 23 WIDTH="545"><div> The simple things</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="580" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Sam: Hayden Christensen</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Alyssa: Jena Malone</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> George: Kevin Kline</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Robin: Kristin Scott Thomas</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Josh: Ian Somerhalder</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Colleen: Mary Steenburgen</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="269"><div> Sam Robards</div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="304"><div> Director: Irwin Winkler</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <B>30 Second Bottom Line</B>: A man diagnosed with a terminal illness pursues a dream of building his own house with his estranged teenage son who is spending the summer with him.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Story Line:</B> George (Kevin Kline) is an architect who lives in a small run down house by the sea in the midst of an upscale community with million dollar homes. He's the scourge of the neighborhood and is uncouth enough to urinate from his back yard into the ocean below in full view of his neighbors.  Alysaa (Jena Malone), the teenage girl that lives next door thinks that George is funny, but her mother Colleen (Mary Steenburgen) is not amused. </div> <bR> <div> George is going along okay until he is fired from his architectural job of over 20 years and soon after is told that he has less than a year to live. Stress and poor health results in him passing out, which is followed by a trip to the hospital. This shifts his focus to his ex wife Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas) and his out of control son Sam (Hayden Christensen). Robin's new husband has about had his fill of Sam and the boy is less than thrilled at the prospect of spending the summer with his strange and distant father.</div> <bR> <div> There are many intriguing parts to the story regarding the relationships of the characters, such as the dating between and Alyssa and Sam; Colleen's amorous adventures; and a reconciliation of sorts by George and Robin. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Tell Me More About It</B>: For those of you that have seen Leelee Sobieski in<I><B> My First Mister</B></I>, this film generates similar feelings. The key difference being the focus here is on a teenage boy with a funky colored hair do and lots of body and facial jewelry rather than a girl. </div> <bR> <div> If a soundtrack comes out for this film, you might want to get it. I thought it was great. The overall look of the film is very nice with ocean views and plaintive skies.</div> <bR> <div> The best thing <I><B>Life as a House</B></I> has going for it is that we see people dealing with painful realties and being the better for it. While fancy cars and houses are nice to have, it's the simple things that we never want to lose, such as love within our family.</div> <bR> <div> This fairy tale is full of clichés and it is manipulative in trying to make you cry. I was touched by the film but I did not shed any tears. I was busy fending off the after effect of groans from clichés like Robin telling George that if Sam spends the summer with him, "One of you will end up dead" or George saying that "…I'll build a house or die trying."</div> <bR> <div> There is one observation that speaks to how cute the movie plays it when a nurse at George's bedside says that if she were diagnosed with a terminal disease with only a few months to live, she'd eat lots of red meat. The movie has lots of heart but only a little bit of soul.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="591" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> R (language, sexuality and drug use)</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> George O. Singleton © 2001</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="587"><div> <A HREF="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:Reelmoviec@aol.com"><U><U>George@reelmoviecritic.com</U></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> Mini Filmography </div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="579" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 38 WIDTH="286"><div> Hayden Christensen: <I><B>The Virgin Suicides</B></I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Jena Malone: <I><B>Donnie Darko</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Kevin Kline:<A HREF="id1090.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Anniversary Party"><U> </U></A><A HREF="id1090.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Anniversary Party"><U><I><B>The Anniversary Party</B></I></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> Kristin Scott Thomas: <I><B>Up at the Villa</B></I></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 ><NOBR><div> Ian Somerhalder: Young Americans-TV</div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Mary Steenburgen: Nixon</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="286"><div> Sam Robards: <A HREF="id236.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bounce"><U><I><B>Bounce</B></I></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="286"><div> Irwin Winkler: The Net</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>