- Date of Release: 06 June 2025
- Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Fantasy
- Language: English
The Life Of Chuck
Introduction
The retrospective nature of the new English film The Life Of Chuck can be determined through its reverse chronological narrative, that divides the film into three acts. But here is the catch – the third act creates the mystery around the drama even as you are introduced to a high-school teacher Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who is teaching the works of Walt Whitman, suddenly coming to terms with strange occurences around him – an earthquake in California, the dying out of the internet and strange news flashes of a person called Chuck Krantz with the words ‘Charles Krantz: 39 Great Years’. The setup remains that of the end of the universe, even as the camera pans to the character of Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) lying on his death bed. It is almost like a larger context subversed in a lesser context, which ironically can be interchanged in more ways that you can imagine – the end of the universe or the death of an individual who has lived the life to his fullest. It remains an interesting introspective that keeps you on tenterhooks about the biggest truth in life – death. But more importantly, it is a deconstruction of the life of an ordinary individual who may have lived the most extraordinary life ever, again that may not sound extraordinary to the opposite person but essentially living every moment to the fullest, even as death has finally appeared to knock on his door!
Story & Screenplay
Based on a short story by Stephen King by the same name, the focus shifts to a fleeting chapter in the life of Chuck that essentially formulates the second act of the film. It almost has traces of insignificance from a narrative stand-point, given how the crux of the act remains on Chuck randomly warming up to a couple of strangers and dancing in the middle of the road. There is no context to the events other than the fact that this incident transpired 9 months prior to the eventual death of Chuck, even as you see a glimpse of his budding illness of brain tumour wherein he momentarily stops dancing before continuing in sync with his partner to the beats of the drums. There are two ways to look at this incident – one in isolation wherein you would get acquainted only to the dancing qualities of the individual, and second, in context to the life of Chuck which would formulate a later chapter in the narrative.
Ironically, the underlying layer continues to be that of a retrospective, of treating random moments in life in isolation, which also remained the most cherished ones. There is a trace of a commentary on memory, be it of a person on the cusp of death who is rewinding his life for the final time, or even a person who is alive but wishing to randomly relive the most cherished but fleeting moments of his life. It is almost like handpicking these moments of savoury only to piece them together in what we call as ‘life’, whilst being unsure of when death would arrive at our doors. Yes, life is unpredictable but so is death, but the only thing that stays behind are fleeting moments of joy, just like the luxury of dancing in the middle of a road randomly with a stranger to the beats of the drums in front of an enthusiastic crowd – just like what Chuck experiences without the inkling that he has just 9 months more to live!
The final chapter comprises of a lot of suppressed emotions that also doubled up to have a huge impact on me. It was almost as if the drama wished to break the fourth wall (other than the narrator who frequently appears in the narrative) and speak to you about the bittersweet moments in life, along with a profound concept of the film – multitude! It begins with a tragedy even as you are transported to the childhood of Chuck, a 9 year old who has just lost his parents in a tragedy. The only two people by his side remain his grandparents – Sarah (Mia Sara), his grief-stricken but wonderfully delightful grandmother and Albie (Mark Hamill), again a grief-stricken alcoholic grandfather who loves his ‘numbers’. Ironically when you look back, Chuck grows up to be an accountant probably trapped in his daily life of numbers but also occasionally finding moments to dance in the middle of the road, the two traits that he exhibits from his grandparents. In a scene when Albie tells Chuck on how everything, and even dancing involves Math, you see a patient Chuck absorbing this concept. But this hesitancy is put to rest when Chuck lets loose on the dance floor of the Fall Fling, an event at his school, almost signifying how he would control the moments of his life without any external pressure.
This also brings us to the concept of multitude that shares its link with the opening act (third act) of the film. In a scene, you see a young Chuck ask his teacher on the meaning of multitude, to which his teacher tells him on how there is a budding universe that is formed in his little mind, incorporating every complex relationships that he would be a part of, along with all the people that he would meet in his lifetime. The underlying theme of a small subtext in the larger scheme of things is definitely evident – given how each one of us have a multitude of our own whilst being a part of the larger universe. And hence, the concept of life and death is the existential arc of this multitude, in the conscious and the subconscious form whilst an individual is alive, but you immediately see it crumbling when a person is dying, just like with Chuck in the opening act of the film. As it turns out, Marty is his school teacher too and finds himself in Chuck’s multitude.
The drama takes this philosophy a step ahead when you witness Chuck entering a forbidden cupola in his attic, only to see an apparition of his sick self dying on the hospital bed. The timelines of his death are unknown to him but it gives him an early retrospective of living life to the fullest before the blink of death arrives. It is almost a deconstruction of Chuck’s life introducing the viewers to his bittersweet memories that would also be crushed post his death. But then isn’t living life to the fullest a concept too? In words of Chuck it is even as the beautiful screenplay concludes with these profound lines –
I Will Live My Life Until My Life Runs Out.
I Am Wonderful, I Deserve To Be Wonderful,
And I Contain Multitudes…..
Dialogues, Music & Direction
The dialogues are almost intended to be fleeting just like the memories of Chuck, but the philosophy of life lies in these fleeting lines. These lines wouldn’t necessarily make sense immediately, but when you look back in hindsight, these would formulate the most profound sentences, all of which would then make sense. In other words, the lines are philosophical and profound without intending to drive home the underlying messaging. The BGM ranges from peppy to sombre, just like the different shades of life that we experience. But holistically, the notes elevate the drama at various instances, something that I ironically could witness when I sat to think about the film. It was a life within a life, a multitude within a multitude for me!
The cinematography taps and grazes upon the different shades of the drama, from being ominous to joyous and pondering across the three acts, wherein the frames exude of different emotions across the storyboard. The editing is designed to divide the film into chapters and in that regard, it allows you to view the deconstructed drama in isolation. Director Mike Flanagan does an incredible job in adding philosophical outbeats to the drama, which would be the most difficult to translate from a literary work to celluloid. And what makes this effort even more incredible is that this is probably Mike’s first assignment outside his ‘horror’ comfort zone. The staging with respect to the world building exudes of different shades even while keeping the emotions intact, and that ultimately is the driving force of the drama that manages to hit home!
Performances
The performances are fleetingly wonderful by the members of the cast. Taylor Gordon as Taylor and Annalisa Basso as Janice are incredibly good in fleeting appearances in the film. Mark Hamill as Albie is a layered character who makes his present felt, wonderfully well. Mia Sara as Sarah is competent and has her moments to shine. Karen Gillan as Felicia and Chiwetel Ejio as Marty are sincere and beautifully understated with their performances wherein they manage to impress. Cody Flanagan, Benjamin Pajak and Jacob Tremblay as the different demographics of Chuck are first rate while adding to the emotional core of the character. Tom Hiddleston as Chuck dances like a dream and also adds levels of profundity to his character despite a limited screen time. He was a treat to witness here.
Conclusion
The Life Of Chuck is a retrospective commentary on death sandwiched in a dance of life to the end of the universe, that makes for a brilliantly profound watch. I never realised that I had such suppressed emotions within me that gently made way through the course of the drama, while making me ponder about the zillion random memories that have shaped up my own life! And that was a beautiful multitude within the larger multitude! Highly Recommended!