LIFE AS A HOUSE -- Irwin Winkler, dir

©2001
studio: New Line Cinema
production company: Winkler Films
dir: Irwin Winkler
cast: Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas, Hayden Christensen, Jena Malone, Mary Steenburgen

After discovery he is terminally ill with cancer, a man tries to reconnect with his angst-ridden son by building a house together.

Okay, I'm a sucker and I liked this film. I thought that Kline did a fantastic job as the man trying to connect with family. The building house metaphor for rebuilding a life worked just fine. Even Hayden Christensen was pretty good here. Strangely, though, Hayden sounded exactly as he did in Star Wars II -- every bit as whiney and pouty -- only here it worked. I believed him as the Goth-looking, nihilistic teenager.

The script was weak and maudlin, but the acting and directing seemed to cover it well. I'm still not sure what the purpose was for Jena Malone to 1) shower with Hayden on more than one occassion, and 2) kiss Kline passionately. None of those scene furthered the story in any way as far as I could tell. If anything, they made me like Malone's character less, and I don't think that was intentional. I also didn't see any point in having Steenburgen's character (Malone's mother) sleep with the teenage boy dating Malone. All it served to do was show that everyone's life was pathetic. It also set up the bit so that the teenage boy could fall off the roof, but that too seemed to serve no purpose in the story.

Not a great film, but I enjoyed my viewing of it. Perhaps, as a father (and, of course, a son), it brought to mind concerns I have about how my children will grow up.