The Life of Chuck

The Life of Chuck
Starring Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan, Mark Hamill
Directed by Mike Flanagan

Stephen King is synonymous with horror, being one of the most prolific and talented horror writers of our time. Yet he's also written some very thought-provoking and powerful dramatic works, some of which have been adapted to the big screen like "The Shawshank Redemption," "The Green Mile," and "Stand By Me." Proving himself more than capable to transcend genres, King in 2020 wrote a series of small novellas that he compiled into a work called If It Bleeds which includes "The Life of Chuck," and while it's not going to be remembered as fondly as the three aforementioned films, it's an uplifting, moving, and mysterious tale of one ordinary man who shows us that the true joys in life come with being true to yourself.

Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) is an ordinary man working an ordinary job, but his life has an interesting twist to it: it's the end of the world, and the only thing people see are billboards, television ads and even skywriting thanking Chuck for 39 years of service in accounting. Moving backwards, the film begins with the end and goes back to Chuck as a young child and teenager, and how every moment in his life shaped the eventual possible end of all things.

"The Life of Chuck" is a very unique movie in that it's revealed in reverse chronological order, told in three acts. The first act centers around divorced couple Marty and Felicia - played by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Karen Gillan - as they navigate through a world slowly falling apart. Global warming has destroyed most of the world, the Internet and communications fail, but through it all they see ads thanking Chuck for 39 years of service. They don't know who Chuck is or why he's everywhere, and it's a profound mystery that unravels in reverse order. The film starts off strong with this mystery, and the great performances from Ejiofor and Gillan that cement us to our seats to find out what the heck is going to happen.

The second act shows us Chuck as he attends an accountants convention, and on his day off he wanders along an open market where he meets Taylor - played by Taylor Gordon - who's playing drums on the side of the street. Dressed to the nines, Chuck abandons his briefcase and begins dancing to Taylor's beat, leading the crowd to watch and cheer, and draws the attention of Janice - played by Annalise Basso - who's just gone through a breakup. Instinctively, she joins Chuck in the dance and afterward the three of them share some tender moments together. It makes the film even more odd because it doesn't offer any clues as to the importance of Chuck's life in the grand scheme of the world, although there's hints that point to the film's twist.

The final act is the first act, showing Chuck as a young child to a young adult, played at first by Cody Flanagan (director Mike Flanagan's son), then by Benjamin Pajak, and finally Jacob Tremblay. Here we see the whole connection, and what makes Chuck so special. It's moving, touching, and heart-wrenching as well as life-affirming, covering all the emotions you could feel. It's beautiful in its simplicity, yet still thought-provoking and intriguing as well, as a young Chuck faces the death of his parents and unborn sister and living with his grandparents - the free-spirited Sarah (played by Mia Sara) and the more headstrong grandfather Albie (an amazing Mark Hamill) - who both show him a passion for dance and also the bare facts of mathematics that shaped his upbringing.

Tom Hiddleston gives a terrific performance as the older Chuck, and shows off his amazing dancing moves in the movie's most pivotal sequence - which, simply, is him letting lose and dancing, even if he doesn't fully know why. There's a huge supporting cast - including Ejiofor, Gillan, Tremblay, Mark Hamill, Matthew Lillard, Carl Lumbly, Kate Siegel (Flanagan's life and longtime collaborator), Nick Offerman, David Dasmalchian, Heather Langenkamp and Violet McGraw - that give it their all in their performances as well, but Hiddleston is the heart and soul of the movie.

 There's a saying: "the true measure of a life can only be understood backwards," and longtime King director Flanagan (who directed "Doctor Sleep" and "Gerald's Game") shows this to be absolutely true with "The Life of Chuck," as we see the end first and then get to understand why everything happened the way it did, which makes it all the more poignant and powerful as opposed to doing it in a straight linear fashion. It shows that we are all unique, we are all special, and we all "contain multitudes" as author Walt Whitman stated, showing our true importance in the grand scheme of things and makes us feel that we actually matter in a world that's often over-sized and makes us feel marginalized. Is it sentimental? Absolutely. It is ham-fisted? Not as much as others may think, at least in my opinion. This is one of those smaller movies that stuck with me, giving me hope for the future - and in today's world, that's something needed more than ever.

The Score: A+