Look, anyone who is in a creative field of work never wants to hear bad reviews. It doesn’t matter if you’re the world’s greatest musical artist, filmmaker, or actor, terrible criticisms are…well, terrible. So, even if you have a hit TV show on NBC and are on the eve of your second feature film as writer-director, it’s never fun to hear such harsh criticism. That’s exactly what happened to writer-director Dan Fogelman, who’s probably best known for his work as creator of “This is Us” and is about to see his latest film “Life Itself” hit theaters this weekend. He’s heard all the reviews for “Life Itself,” and he wants you to know he’s not very happy about it.
In a new interview with TooFab, Fogelman is asked about the early reviews for his film, which are overwhelmingly horrible. “Life Itself” currently sits at a 13% on Rotten Tomatoes (it fell from 14% over the course of this writing) and it appears that film critics have been taken pleasure at lobbing some harsh words at the melodrama. Well, as mentioned, the writer-director thinks he knows why.
READ MORE: ‘Life Itself’ Pushes Buttons Just To Push Buttons [TIFF Review]
“I think that something is inherently a little bit broken in our film criticism right now,” Fogelman said. “I also think it’s somewhat broken in our television criticism, I think that the people with the widest reach are getting increasingly cynical and vitriolic and I think there are a couple of genres and a couple of ideas that they [attack, which] doesn’t speak to not just a mainstream audience, but also a sophisticated audience.”
He continued, “I think a couple of the early reviews that have come out about this movie [‘Life Itself’] feel so out of left field to everybody who’s a part of this movie and to people who have been screening this film for the better part of a year now to both fancy filmmakers, critics, and audiences. There’s a disconnect between something that is happening between our primarily white male critics who don’t like anything that has any emotion.”
There you have it. The crux of his argument, and the source of some recent debate — the white male critic. For those that haven’t been following along, there have been some recent controversy over the fact that white males have dominated film criticism for decades. And there’s a real need for diverse voices.
Brie Larson brought this up during a speech, where she called out the poor reviews for “A Wrinkle in Time,” saying she’d rather hear from a woman of color than a white male about the film. Fair enough.
READ MORE: TIFF Pledges To Use Charitable Donations To Bring Diverse Film Critics To The Festival
Fogelman continued his discussion a bit more, “Something’s happened with these 10 people who kind of speak in this ‘group speak’ and say [my work is] ’emotionally manipulative’ every time they [see] anything where [my] characters go through anything. And it’s concerning because it is important, it tells people what to go see. I don’t feel that often now our pop and film critics are speaking for a sophisticated audience anymore.”
Don’t worry, this isn’t an article trying to save the white male critic. As a white male who sometimes reviews stuff, I totally can see why the frustration exists. And to give credence to Fogelman’s plea, let’s look at what white male Peter Travers said about “Life Itself” (via Rolling Stone), “How do you rate a cinematic black hole that doesn’t deserve a single star? Do you simply give it five eyerolls?”
Okay, Fogelman might have a point.
But for fairness’ sake, let’s take a look at what some non-white males had to say about the film. Surely, they will understand “Life Itself” in a way that white males surely can’t, right?
Jessica Kiang (via Variety) said this in her review, “It is sentimental and sprawling, which are not necessarily bad things, but also manipulative and contrived, which very much are.” Oof.
What about Washington Post reviewer Kristen Page-Kirby? “Movies should invite viewers in, taking them on a journey together with the characters on-screen. Unfortunately, ‘Life Itself’ is less journey than lecture,” she said in her review. Ummm.
Well, US Weekly really should be the prime audience for anything from the creator of “This is Us!” Reviewer Mara Reinstein said, “Everything happens for a reason. While that cliché may be comforting in theory — my heartbreak now will end in bliss later! — it’s lazy when used in a film. The self-aware Life Itself shoves this message down your throat along with a vat of sugar. Open at your own risk. “
Okay, but Katie Walsh (Via the Post-Bulletin) should be the voice of reason, right? “The worst thing about ‘Life Itself’ is not that it is emotionally sadistic. It’s just how much it wants to be emotionally sadistic, while simultaneously missing the mark by a mile,” said her review.
Oh, and before you think I’m cherry-picking here, understand that I pulled these from the “Top Critics” section of Rotten Tomatoes, where 14 out of 15 gave it a “Rotten” review. The lone “Fresh?” Well, that came from a man. Go Figure!
Yes, white male critics are probably not the best audience for “Life Itself.” And Fogelman’s right to want more diversity in criticism. However, at some point, you just have to understand that, as of now, your work just isn’t clicking with people. But hey, maybe audiences will eat it up?