Rarely has a film ever been such shameless Oscar bait as "Life as a House." This is a movie that wants to be noticed and adored.
"Life as a House" is similar to "American Beauty," only less dark and cynical and not quite as good. Seeing as how generous the Academy was to that 1999 Sam Mendes picture (Best Picture and Best Actor are two of the five Oscars it won), it's safe to assume that "Life as a House" stands a decent chance of scoring some nominations.
Kevin Kline, a highly undervalued actor, stars as George Monroe, an architect whose life has quickly and abruptly fallen apart. He is already divorced, he loses his job and he's diagnosed with a terminal disease.
George owns a rundown shack overlooking the Pacific Ocean. For years he has talked about rebuilding it, and now the time has come. He moves into the garage and sets out to finish the house before he dies. Insert metaphors related to title here.
First and foremost, this is a father and son story. George and his ex-wife Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas) have a 16-year-old son named Sam (Hayden Christensen). He has an abundance of piercings to go along with his blue hair and experiments with whatever drugs he can get his hands on. Needless to say, George doesn't have a strong relationship with him.
Sam is an angry kid, and he puts up quite a fight when George alerts him to the fact that he will be joining him at the shack for the summer. But he has no choice, and George doesn't care how he feels.
As George works on the house, he and Sam bicker and fight. Robin starts to drop by and begins to wonder if she still loves George. Meanwhile, Sam starts to spend time with Alyssa (Jena Malone), the teenage daughter of George's neighbor and ex-girlfriend Coleen (Mary Steenburgen). All the while he doesn't mention his sickness to anyone.
"Life as a House" is as predictable as it gets. Nevermind that the leading character is dying; this is a feel-good movie. There are no surprises along the way and everything you think will happen does happen. Despite that, it works. Screenwriter Mark Andrus ("As Good As It Gets") knows exactly what buttons to push and has written characters that are painfully human and sympathetic.
The actors deserve a lot of credit for helping the movie transcend the cliches and almost overwhelming sentimentality. The entire cast is outstanding, but Kline and Christensen are the standouts. They develop a realistic relationship and are never less than convincing. Their scenes together are humorous and moving, sometimes at the same time, and so is the movie.
It's far from perfect though. Some scenes seem completely unnecessary. Andrus goes overboard with the May-December romance angle and a few sub plots should have been left on the cutting room floor. They end up feeling contrived and unrealistic.
But as long as you can handle melodrama, "Life as a House" will have you reaching for the Kleenex. By the time the credits rolled there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Grown men were sniffling like a small child with a skinned knee. It may not always be subtle, but it's undeniably effective.
"Life as a House" opened Fri., Nov. 2 at Marcus North Shore theatre in Mequon. Click here for showtimes.
