13 June 2025.
THE LIFE OF CHUCK **1/2
They are selling this film as a new wonder mix from a Stephen King novella and a Mike Flanagan film, both aficionados of horror. Though, mercifully, this one is not. I actually found it to be ‘much ado about nothing’ in its languid conception – three sporadic, puzzling chapters on one man’s life. In its attempt to show that a man can live a full life even if it ends too early, the film often veers off into episodes that feel less genuine than the kernel of the story. The synergy simply doesn’t work, as the parts do not make a whole.
But there is one event in the middle of the film that is worth the lethargy of the whole – an impromptu, stupendous dance number by Tom Hiddleston who plays Chuck, the accountant. It will wake you up and dazzle you – the rhythm of the girl playing drums in the middle of a town square, the delight and so smooth movements of Hiddleston and the incongruence with the rest of the film that is trying to be so philosophical. That episode is definitely worth the price of the ticket.
Plus the moment when the film refers to a line from a Walt Whitman poem – “I am large, I contain multitudes”. Referring to a life, any life – that has gathered many experiences – a thought that needs pondering, despite a world that may be disintegrating….
But just those two moments do not make a successful film. Go anyway, for that dance, and see what you think.
VACANCES FORCÉES *** (vo French)
Amongst all the often silly, lightweight French films streaming out, this time they’ve got it right – a fun, family-oriented summer movie. (The other good one is still on our screens – “Le répondeur”.)
Unbeknownst to them, three families have rented a large, luxurious summer villa for the same period. They find out that outrageous detail only when they arrive there on the same day. A terrible mix-up – what to do?! They have to spend their precious vacation time all together, and can share the price, says the disagreeable owner.
And here starts this amusing tale of three different life styles trying to abide each other. There’s the jovial family father (the charming Clovis Cornillac), a proud proletariat who wants to give his wife and three kids a special time. There’s an uptight, wealthy couple with a troubled teenage son who are trying for a family reconciliation. And there’s an intellectual publisher of poetry there with his pretty, young black protégée who’s a famous influencer.
Despite some stereotypical types and a few clichés, directors François Prévôt-Leygonie and Stéphan Archinard have managed to pull together both an amusing and touching portrait of people trying to get along. They could have toned down the amorous sounds of the proletariat couple, especially with their children around, but this is a French film, after all….
Superb **** Very Good *** Good ** Mediocre * Miserable – no stars
By Neptune
Neptune Ravar Ingwersen reviews film extensively for publications in Switzerland. She views 4 to 8 films a week and her aim is to sort the wheat from the chaff for readers.
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