Video Review by Marilyn Robitaille

Last Updated 05/06/02

Email: robitai@our-town.com

“Life as a House”

“Life as a House” has all the ingredients to define it as overly emotional and sentimental. A wonderful man learns that he has terminal cancer and then sets a courageous goal for himself. An overly sensitive woman tries to ignite lost love too late. A troubled teenager dulls the pain through anger and drug abuse. In spite of the combination of these soap operaisms calculated to bring a tear, “Life as a House” manages to maintain its integrity. Plot situations never feel contrived, and the main characters inspire our sympathy in complex, rather than in predictable, ways.  You’ll be entertained and moved.

            Kevin Kline fans should be ecstatic. This is a Kevin showcase. He plays the role of George Monroe, a cancer-laden architect whose impending and untimely end inspires new beginnings of several kinds. With just the right combination of vulnerability and cragginess, Kline sculpts his character into a memorable rendition of Everyman, and we’re suddenly forced to confront details of our own mortality, comfort, and rage.  

The characters’ emotional repertoires, distilled to the basics, take on universal qualities. Even though the complicated relationship between Monroe and Sam (Hayden Christensen), his blue-haired son, is unique, its essence isn’t. This is every parent’s worst nightmare.  Do we dare disturb the adolescent’s tumultuous universe? In Monroe’s case, the answer is a resounding yes. He practically kidnaps Sam and forces him into child labor to help him build his dream house. Time, after all, is running out. Sam is sixteen and doesn’t know or love his father.

The metaphor of the house is essential to the movie’s success.  As stated in the title, the house is a reflection of Sam’s life.  As the house is built, so are the relationships that matter in Sam’s life. What ultimate irony that it takes staring death in the face to celebrate life. 

Although Kristin Scott Thomas, who plays Robin, Monroe’s ex-wife, doesn’t seem quite spunky enough to be a match for Kline’s indomitable spirit, maybe that’s the point. We can’t all build our lives on solid ground.  We don’t all have a plan to save ourselves from regret and loneliness.  Monroe, however, does have a plan, and in the process, he builds a lot more than a house on his way out.

Available in video and DVD

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