Life or Something Like It (2002)

Director:

Stephen Herek

Writers (WGA):

John Scott Shepherd (story)
John Scott Shepherd (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

26 April 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

What if you only had 7 days to live?

Plot:

A reporter interviews a homeless man, who tells her that she's going to die and her life is meaningless.

Plot Keywords:

Interview | Reporter | Football | Fate | New York City

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Angelina Jolie	...	Lanie Kerrigan
Edward Burns	...	Pete (as Ed Burns)
Tony Shalhoub	...	Prophet Jack
Christian Kane	...	Cal Cooper
James Gammon	...	Pat Kerrigan
Melissa Errico	...	Andrea
Stockard Channing	...	Deborah Connors
Lisa Thornhill	...	Gwen
Gregory Itzin	...	Dennis (as Greg Itzin)
Max Baker	...	Vin
Andromeda Dunker	...	Mo
Jesse James Rutherford	...	Tommy
Veena Sood	...	Doctor
Eric Snellman	...	George
Theron Zahn	...	Steve

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, brief violence and language.

Runtime:

103 min | Argentina:105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:LH | Malaysia:U | Finland:K-7 | USA:PG-13 (No. 38850) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:Livre | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Denmark:7 | France:U | Germany:6 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

Kerry Park - 211 W Highland Drive, Seattle, Washington, USA

Company:

Regency Enterprises

Trivia:

The filmmakers used the KOMO-TV studios in Seattle as sets - altering the logo to "KQMO-TV" - and many KOMO personalities make cameo appearances, among them Dan Lewis, Margo Myers and Steve Pool.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the plane is landing in NY, the voice overhead is heard saying "Laguardia International Airport". LGA is not an international airport - it's too small to handle big planes like that. Perhaps they meant to use JFK or Newark since those are the only two international airports neighboring NYC.

Quotes:

Lanie: Someone once said, live everyday as if it were your last cause one of these its gonna be. Jack was right a part of me did die that day the part of me that didn't know how to live. What does the future hold, Jack knows. But when I talk to him I make sure we only talk about sports and weather.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

Soft Morning News Theme

Interesting comedy/drama movie from several angles

I enjoyed this movie, thanks in large part to the fact that I saw it on FX channel, on their "DVD on TV" movie night, where those two hosts (can't remember their names...) give you supplementary facts and other commentary about the movie during the commercial breaks.

The story was actually fairly engrossing: Angelina Jolie's character (Lanie Kerrigan), who is a news reporter, is told by some strange street prophet, Jack (played by Tony Shaloub), that she will die in a week. The story unfolds as she proceeds to live her rather hectic, self-absorbed life interspersed with romance, a somewhat strained relationship with her father and sister, and the ever-present wonderment as to whether Jack the Prophet will be correct in his prophecy that Lanie will in fact die in a week. In other words, the movie does manage to keep you on the hook right up to the very end. (The ending was a bit lame, but still had a good message if you care to adjust yourself to it.)

Jolie's character, Lanie, is interesting, because if you watch the movie more than once, you will most likely start to be intrigued by her appearance: the platinum blonde hair, the puffy lips, the expressive eyes, the makeup.... you might start to think she resembles Marilyn Monroe, or, you may just write her off as a woman who actually looks a bit like an attractive transvestite(!). But no matter, because whether you like Angelina Jolie or not, you can't help but be a bit intrigued by the appearance of her character, which is kind of "out there" for Jolie. One potential problem, though, is that she is possibly TOO out there, to the point where she may distract the viewer from seeing the message of the movie

Tony Shaloub's character, Jack the Prophet, is very well portrayed by Mr. Shaloub. He's lovably wacko, and plus he has some pretty funny lines in spite of his plight in life. I like the Ed Burns character, Pete, because he reflects reality, whereas Jolie's character is kind of too unreal, but still fun to watch.

I liked the setting of the movie, Seattle, since I live in Seattle. For those of us who live in the rainy city, it's fun to see an interesting movie that takes place in our environs. They also used actual news people from a local Seattle TV station, so it was kind of fun to see people whom I've been seeing on the local nightly news actually appear in a Hollywood movie. They changed their real names, though, which was kind of weird.

There were a few things I didn't like about the movie, the main one being that Lanie, who works as a modern-day TV reporter, comes across to me as just way too much of a sex-pot, I mean just way outside the realm of reality. It gets to be jarring after awhile to see such a sexy creature being passed off as a news reporter when we all KNOW that no modern local news station would put such a pouty, platinum-haired blonde on the air (....or WOULD they??? as Conan O'Brien would say.) But mainly I liked the movie, and it was actually worth a repeat viewing, as it kind of grows on you, and ultimately makes you THINK about your own life, your own values, your personal destiny, etc. BTW, there's a pretty good batch of songs that accompanied the movie too, though I don't believe there is an actual soundtrack available, so you will probably have to hunt down each song individually.

All in all an interesting movie, with a message worth pondering - if you can get past the steady distraction of the appearance of Angelina Jolie, of course.

Well, that's my review. You guys have been a great audience, thanks for listening!