Plot: What’s it about?
Lanie Kerigan (Angelina Jolie) is a popular television reporter on a local Seattle affiliate, has a professional baseball player fiancee, and has just learned her boss is submitting her tapes to the national network for consideration. In other words, Lanie’s life is very good and to her it is perfect, since her boyfriend and her job hold top priority in her mind. But when she is assigned cameraman Pete (Ed Burns), a former one night stand of hers, her life begins to take some unexpected turns, including a major one that happens on a routine people piece. She is to interview Prophet Jack (Tony Shalhoub), a homeless man who has been able to make some accurate predictions and this time, he’s going to predict the outcome of the night’s Seahawks game. He tells Lanie the Seahawks will win, that it will hail the next morning, and that she is going to die in less than a week. This shakes her up to be sure, but she still doubts the man’s predictions, until the Seahawks manage to win and the next morning, the hail starts to rain down. This causes her to reexamine her own life, as she begins to question how long she really has in this world…
I had no real desire to see this movie in theaters, but it looked like it might have some quirk potential, so I wound up checking it out. Although most of my expectations were true, I still found this to be an enjoyable movie with some bright spots, though of course, it falls into the usual cliche problems often. I think some tinkering with the ending would have improved this one a lot, as it looks like the movie is going to close one way, but then its almost like you can see the studio looming and the film continues on. This means the actual closing seems forced and false, as we all know where the movie should have ended, which would have made the film much more powerful, as well as more memorable. Even so, Angelina Jolie and Ed Burns hand in fine performances, as far as romantic comedies are concerned, both more than able to hold the movie together for a while, until the hollow ending sours the punch. But if you’re a fan of Jolie or romantic comedies, I think Life or Something Like It is more than worth a rental.
As this is pretty much a vehicle for her, its a good thing Angelia Jolie shows up here, otherwise this one would be a total loss. Her costars deliver solid efforts, but this is Jolie’s movie and without her presence, it would have been doomed. Even with her there, the movie stumbles and stalls, but she is able to keep it on track most of the time, even when the material lapses. Jolie looks awesome as a blonde and lights up the screen, her smile is incredible as always and she simply shines on screen, too bad the movie couldn’t have been better. As usual, she injects some quirks into the role and they work out well, adding a little personality to the character and in this case, any improvements were welcome. Other films with Jolie include Tomb Raider, Hackers, Original Sin, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Pushing Tin, and Playing God. The cast also includes Ed Burns (15 Minutes, She’s the One), Tony Shalhoub (The Man Who Wasn’t There, Galaxy Quest), and Christian Kane (Summer Catch, Crossfire Trail).
Video: How does it look?
Life or Something Like It is presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, with a pan & scan edition included on the disc’s flip side. This isn’t up to Fox’s usual new release standards, but it is solid in all respects. The print used is clean, with no grain and minimal debris, but the image is a shade soft, which hinders detail somewhat. The visuals aren’t helped by less than rich colors, which come off as bright, but not as well presented as I would have liked. In addition, contrast remains stable throughout, but not quite as stark and refined as expected. I suppose its just my high expectations given Fox’s past performance on new releases, but I found this to be a bit of a let down on the whole.
Audio: How does it sound?
As with most romantic comedies, this one has a solid audio presence, but never rises much beyond the basics. But the material is well served, so I can’t complain too much about the soundtrack, as it does sound solid. The film is driven by dialogue, so sound effects aren’t often high impact or dynamic, but as I said, the material doesn’t need those elements. The music comes through well, with a rich presence that engages the surrounds and in the process, opens up the mix a little and that’s very welcome here. No complaints with the dialogue either, which sounds clean and easy to understand at all times. This disc also includes French and Spanish language options, as well as subtitles in English and Spanish.
Supplements: What are the extras?
An audio commentary with director Stephen Herek is found here, but no trailer or other supplements have been included.
