Stephen King might have more individual works adapted for the screen than any other writer in history, besting Shakespeare, Dickens, and Christie. With “The Life Of Chuck,” horror impresario Mike Flanagan brings yet another King tale to the big screen, his third straight after “Doctor Sleep” and “Gerald’s Game.” Despite containing the expected horror and sci-fi elements, “The Life Of Chuck” is a bit of a departure for both King and Flanagan as it is a straight drama for much of its runtime—veering closer in tone to “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The Green Mile” than, say, “The Shining.” This comparison might bode well for the film’s prospects as the former two Frank Darabont pictures enjoyed considerable award success and established lasting popularity with the public.
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“The Life Of Chuck” immediately cautions viewers about impending storytelling trickery with the first chapter titled ‘Act Three.’ Acts Two and One will follow in reverse chronological order. The three chapters each have seemingly disconnected and disparate stories, and it is the linkages between them that will propel audience interest. Act Three is like King’s usual work, presenting a terrifying near-future scenario where the internet has stopped working, and half of California has slipped into the sea. The protagonists in this story are Marty and his ex-wife (Chiwetel Ejiofor and Karen Gillan), a school teacher, and a nurse, respectively, as they deal with the flood of calamities afflicting their lives. Perplexingly, billboards and ads pepper begin peppering the entire city where they live, celebrating one Chuck in the image of top-billed star Tom Hiddleston.
Hiddleston doesn’t appear in Act Three at all, but Act Two – a single extended scene – is all about him. In a bravura sequence, real-life drummer Taylor Gordon beats out a rhythm in a busy city square, and Hiddleston’s Chuck, a suit-clad accountant, dances his heart out – non-stop, for minutes on end, cycling through several dance styles and genres. He’s soon joined by a young woman (Annalise Basso), and they dazzle the crowd. The choreography is excellent, and Hiddleston performs panache and abandon.
Act Three again shifts gears, receding back in time, to focus on Chuck in 6th grade, played by (Benjamin Pajak). This chapter is the longest and meatiest and forms the film’s heart. It is with a bit of surprise that we discover that Hiddleston isn’t present much in the picture at all. In fact, the real star of “The Life Of Chuck” is Pajak, who single-handedly carries the film on his narrow, bony shoulders in an absolutely sensational child performance. This section focuses on the orphaned Chuck’s upbringing by his grandparents (Mark Hamill and Mia Sara), his crush on a girl a foot taller than him, and his lessons in a dancing class, he being one of the few boys to take it. Act Three includes its own mystery to be uncovered by the end, a locked room on the top floor of his house that grandfather instructs he must not open under any circumstance.
The strength of the last chapter brings into sharper relief some of the shortcomings within the larger film’s construction. It is hard to escape the feeling that the first chapter’ Act Three’ is entirely disposable. It is a whole lot of setup and an inauspicious introduction as it drowns the viewer in an avalanche of exposition that turns out to be entirely beside the point. While the exact nature of this chapter will not be disclosed here, know that what can work as a literary sleight of hand or a clever device on the page can seem pointless once visualized on film. Across the three chapters, the mode of storytelling chosen by King (and Flanagan) is premised on emphasis and repetition. Several conversations are repeated verbatim, the repetition meant to serve as a point of recognition and insight. It only leaves you feeling that all this scaffolding was needed because the filmmakers couldn’t trust the last section to stand on its own when it required no such help.
Flanagan also commits a screen-writing faux pas by employing a disembodied, third-person, omniscient narrator speaking in an ironic, AI-sounding trailer voice. The context of this narrator isn’t made clear, and again, it seems like a literary device that only works on the page.
Even so, the last chapter is to be commended for being a superior piece of storytelling, just on the strength of the performances alone—Pajak, Hamill and Sara are all excellent. And enough dancing to fill five musicals many times over. The bulk of this section is devoted to Chuck’s dancing lessons and performances, and the thrill of watching the poetry of graceful bodies in motion is immensely pleasurable. Hamill is finally given the opportunity to be the all-knowing father figure that the “Star Wars” sequels never afforded him. Amongst his pearls of wisdom are aphorisms like “Math is Truth” and the most generous and charitable defense of the profession of Accounting.
The Max Ricther-like score provided by the Newton Brothers contributes to the elevated tone of the picture. There is definitely some extraneous storytelling muddle in “The Life Of Chuck,” but once you get past the opening act, there are glories to be had – in the form of a terrific childhood coming-of-age tale anchored by a star-making turn by Pajak and exceptional dancing by Pajak and Hiddleston. It is easy to recommend the film for those elements alone. [B]
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