# My Life (1993)

### reviewed by
James Berardinelli

                                         MY LIFE
                           A film review by James Berardinelli
                            Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli

    Rating (Linear 0 to 10):  6.3

    Date Released:  11/12/93
    Running Length:  1:57
    Rated:  PG-13 (Language, mature themes)

Starring: Michael Keaton, Nicole Kidman, Bradley Whitford, Haing S. Ngor, Michael Constantine, Rebecca Schull Director: Bruce Joel Rubin Producers: Jerry Zucker, Bruce Joel Rubin, and Hunt Lowry Screenplay: Bruce Joel Rubin Music: John Barry Released by Columbia Pictures

Bob Jones (Michael Keaton) is dying. His kidney cancer has spread to his lungs and the doctors are telling him that the best he can do is enjoy the few months remaining to him. With his wife Gail (Nicole Kidman) four months pregnant, Bob's chances of living long enough to see the birth of his only child are slim-to-none. In a last-ditch effort to find some shred of hope to cling to, Gail persuades her husband to see a Chinese healer, Mr. Ho (Haing S. Ngor), whose advice--to let go of all the pain and anger within--leads Bob to explore his own past even as he makes video tapes of his last days for his offspring.

The commercials for MY LIFE make a big deal out of this as being "from the creators of GHOST," and for good reason. Much of the same heartwrenching, occasionally cloying, sentiment is present here. Those who hate tear-jerkers should resolutely avoid this film; MY LIFE will leave that crowd retching in the aisles.

Actually, when the film tunes down the manipulation, it has some genuinely moving and emotionally honest moments. Ironically, the most "real" scenes are those of Bob videotaping himself. His confessions, reflections, and comments seem far more genuine than any of the numerous melodramatic scenes that have Bob actively confronting the realities of life and death. MY LIFE lays it on thick in the drawn-out final fifteen minutes, and this hamstrings the project somewhat (you could hear a lot of nose-blowing in the darkened confines of the theater). Not that this is a surprise; fifteen minutes into the movie, it's pretty obvious how it's going to end.

Overall, the scenes that work outnumber those that fail, and that's reason enough for a die-hard cynic like myself to admit grudgingly to having liked MY LIFE. There's enough intelligent stuff contained herein to keep most viewers from dwelling on the maudlin shortcomings. This is no UNTAMED HEART, with an impossible-to-accept premise and cringingly bad overacting; MY LIFE may have obvious intentions, but at least it's skillful in presenting them.

Michael Keaton does a fine job as Bob Jones, and it may be the quality of his performance that makes much of MY LIFE work. Certainly, even his most ridiculous scenes (such as where he storms into his doctor's office and informs him: "You can't take away my hope! It's all I have left!") aren't too painful to sit through. Nicole Kidman's success is more sporadic. Coupled with finely-acted moments when it's possible to feel Gail's grief, there are times when Ms. Kidman doesn't bring enough substance to her character. This may be as much (or more) the fault of the writing as that of the actress, though, since it's hard to be consistently sincere uttering the occasional dumb line.

Haing S. Ngor is so good that the scenes featuring Chinese mysticism seem less foolish than they might otherwise. This is important, since much of MY LIFE's skeleton is formed from these sessions and what comes out of them.

It's difficult to predict how tear-jerkers will perform at the box office since this, more than any other class of motion picture, brings out the public's fickle nature. MY LIFE isn't a Russian tragedy, so there's exhilaration amidst the heartbreak, and the gallows humor manages to avoid being tasteless. Those who go to this film expecting to like it probably will, and those who don't, won't. Few will be apathetic, however.

MY LIFE is good schmaltz--decent entertainment that has no qualms about mucking around with the audience's emotions (thus making it a prime "date movie"). In addition to being far too blatant about its motives and having a plot that offers almost no surprises, the movie suffers from an unfortunate case of "cuteness". Stone-hearted movie-goers beware--many of you will loathe this film, and those that don't will probably have a hard time justifying how you could actually like it.

- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)

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