‘The Life of Chuck' contains multitudes

Boston Globe

2 days ago

Like King's story, 'The Life of Chuck' is broken into three acts. Writer-director (and Salem native)
Mike Flanagan's third and best adaptation of the Maine author's work keeps not only the episodic structure, but also the reverse order in which the events were originally presented. Your full attention is required to follow the breadcrumbs Flanagan leaves. Helping out is an effective narration delivered by an excellent
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Act III, which opens the film, is entitled 'Thanks, Chuck' and deals with what may be the end of the world. Chiwetel Ejiofor is Marty Anderson, a teacher whose attempts at normalcy in his daily routine fall flat. His only comfort is talking on the phone with Felicia (
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Chiwetel Ejiofor and Karen Gillan in 'The Life of Chuck.'
NEON
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Even stranger is the billboard and ads they keep seeing on TV and in the neighborhood. A guy who, according to the narration, 'looks like an accountant' stares out from the stationary ad. 'Thanks, Chuck,' the copy says, 'for 39 great years.' The rather bland ad's repeat appearances become a running joke with a slightly sinister edge.
When the Chuck ad starts showing up in unexpected places, a freaked out Marty walks to Felicia's apartment, presumably to reconcile before the universe implodes.
Up next is Act II, 'Buskers Forever.' It's where we finally meet Charles Krantz (Tom Hiddleston), the Chuck who's being thanked on those billboards. He's attending a conference on a business trip, and he'd rather spend his lunch hour alone than with a bunch of boring bankers.
The real fun begins when he walks into a town square and is taken with the drumming of a busker (Taylor Gordon). She sees this nondescript man standing by and decides to give him a soundtrack. At the same time, Janice (Annalise Basso), who has just been dumped by her boyfriend via text message, crosses paths with Chuck and that drummer. Suddenly, 'The Life of Chuck' becomes a musical with an incredible dance number smack dab in the middle.
'I Contain Multitudes' is the caption for Act I, the film's longest section and its most powerful and moving. This is where some things get explained, and others are left vague. We're in Chuck's childhood and adolescence. He's played by three actors here, Cody Flanagan as a kid, Benjamin Pajak as a pre-teen and finally Jacob Tremblay as a young adult.
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Mark Hamill in 'The Life of Chuck.'
NEON
Most of our time is spent with Pajak's incarnation, who lives with his grandparents, Sarah (Mia Sara) and Albie (an Oscar-worthy Mark Hamill). In a speech that warms the heart of math majors like me, Albie extols the beauty of math.
'Math can be art,' Albie tells Chuck, 'but it can never lie.'
Meanwhile, his teacher, Miss Richards (Kate Siegel) explains the poetry of my high school English class nemesis, Walt Whitman. 'You contain multitudes,' she tells Chuck, quoting the poet who has a rest area named for him on the New Jersey Turnpike.
There's dancing in this section, too, which ties Act I to Act II. There's also a mysterious room in the attic whose contents tie Act I with Act III.
But what does it all mean?
Mia Sara, Mark Hamill and Cody Flanagan in 'The Life of Chuck.'
NEON
It's no spoiler to reveal that 'The Life of Chuck' is ultimately about death. And not just the loss of loved ones who precede us, but the concept of death as one's own personal mini-apocalypse. Whether or not there's a Biblical-style apocalypse, we're all going to die on our own.
This idea recalled my church-going days, where our pastor told us that people look for gigantic miracles without realizing that, for the most part, miracles are actually very small. A chance encounter, a first crush, a financially successful day of drumming, or, in Chuck's case, a childhood scar that, when recognized later, provides the answer to a very important question—these are all little miracles in this movie.
With a masterful juggling of tone, Flanagan celebrates the life of Charles Krantz ('thanks for 39 great years') by flashing his life before our eyes. Visual motifs are repeated, from a waving finger to a familiar face showing up in a different context. There are also verbal cues, like sentences repeated, that are Easter eggs for the other acts.
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And there is also joy to go with the sadness. Though Hamill, Pajak, Ejiofor, Sara, and Hiddleston are all excellent, the film's real MVP is its choreographer, Mandy Moore ('Dancing with the Stars'). Not since the glory days of MGM have there been dance numbers as enjoyable as the ones you'll see here.
'The Life of Chuck' won the Audience award at last year's TIFF, deservedly so. It's one of this year's best movies. I don't know how it will fare at the box office, but I can see it becoming a beloved favorite in the same way 'The Shawshank Redemption' ultimately did. Like that classic, this one really makes you think about life and the things we take for granted.
When the lights came up at my TIFF screening, I dried my tears and imagined that my old English teacher, Mr. Kilinski, was laughing from The Great Beyond at how moved I was by the use of Whitman's '
At least I hope I do. As Hemingway once wrote, 'isn't it pretty to think so?'
★★★★
THE LIFE OF CHUCK
Written and directed by Mike Flanagan. Based on the novella by Stephen King. Starring Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mark Hamill, Mia Sara, Benjamin Pajak, Cody Flanagan, Jacob Tremblay, Karen Gillan, Annalise Basso, Taylor Gordon, Kate Siegel, Nick Offerman. At Coolidge Corner, AMC Boston Common. 110 min. R (language).
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Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.