Since the release of Sam Mendes’ 1999 masterpiece “American Beauty”, the idea of men in mid-life crises trying to re-live their youth through their children or quitting a job they loathed became a new formula in movies. One film that captured a formula in a similar format was Irwin Winkler’s 2001 film “Life as a House” about a man, dying from terminal cancer, trying to re-build his house while reconstructing the detached relationships with his ex-wife and estranged, troubled son. The premise of the film might seem like a good idea but screenwriter Mark Andrus gives out some very generic film ideas along with predictable storylines and over-the-top melodrama. Despite a cast that includes Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas, Jena Malone, Mary Steenburgen, Ian Somerhalder, Scott Bakula, Jamey Sheridan, and newcomer Hayden Christensen, “Life as a House” ends up as something generic instead of something that could’ve been more compelling.

The film begins with a late 40s architect named George Monroe who lives in dilapidated shack in a fine, mid-upper class neighborhood. He is not very well-liked by his neighbors including a businessman David Dokos (Sam Robards), who always gets an unexpected visit from George’s dog who often pees in his yard or something. The only neighbor who seems to tolerate George’s behavior is Colleen Beck (Mary Steenburgen) whose 16-year old daughter Alyssa (Jena Malone) was trying to get a peek of George in his underwear as he was urinating on the cliff on top of the beach on his house. George’s life isn’t very glamorous as he is estranged from his ex-wife Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas) who has remarried with a successful businessman Peter Kimball with two young kids Adam (Mike Weinberg) and Ryan (Scotty Leavenworth). George and Robin’s son teenage Sam (Hayden Christensen) has become troublesome as he self-destructs, does drugs, listens to Marilyn Manson relentlessly while becoming a pain to Robin and Peter.

If George’s family life wasn’t bad enough, his life at his job as an architect is even worse as his younger co-workers look at him like a dinosaur. George rarely sees Robin and Sam and finally one day, the life that George had for years finally crumbles as he finds himself fired by his younger boss Bryan Burke (John Pankow) and George finally destroys everything around his work place and Burke’s building design. After walking out of the building, George suddenly collapses where he finds himself in a hospital where he is suffering from terminal cancer with only a few months to live. He talks to a nurse (Sandra Nelson) about the crap life he has led and realizing that he doesn’t have a lot of time, he decided to build his dream house by tearing down his old one and he needed his family for help just to reconnect with them.

Robin picks up him in the hospital furious at him for his sudden disappearance as he tells her that she’s the most beautiful woman he has ever seen but doesn’t tell her about his medical condition. Sam meanwhile, is planning to go to Tahoe where he decides to do some work for a young pimp and Alyssa’s boyfriend Josh (Ian Somerhalder). George had other ideas as he decides to take Sam, kicking and screaming, to his house for the summer as Sam keeps on b*tching and complaining. George knows they’re not going to bond at first but Sam has to be there for his dad. The only person Sam talks to is Alyssa, who seems to have more sympathy towards George while she knows what Sam is feeling. Robin would visit to bring lunch for George and Sam as Robin confesses about her troubled relationship with Sam, where she admits, she doesn’t really know what’s wrong with him.

Sam does a job for Josh in a prostitution scam that fails while he was looking for pills to chow down on but George threw them away as Sam keeps on screaming at him for the pills while George is trying to deal with authorities about a bathroom. Sam finally gives in and helps his father with the house as the bonding begins to arrive. Robin would come in more frequent with her sons as the boys and Alyssa begin to help out more with the house. Sam and Alyssa immediately fall for each other, especially in the shower as Robin remembers why she had fallen for George in the first place.

Peter however, is bothered by Robin’s frequent visits to see George and it causes some conflicts, as George and Robin grow closer. Josh arrives to visit Alyssa but ends up having a fling with Colleen while George has a heart-to-heart conversation with Alyssa. Peter leave briefly because of Robin’s visit as she finds herself saddened that her marriage might crumble as she and George, comfort each other but knew they mustn’t fall in love for the sake of Robin’s kids. She of course, learns the truth about what’s going on with George as well as Sam, who finally begins to care for his father but is disheartened for the fact that he’s dying. The house meanwhile, is still being built by many neighbors including local sheriff Kurt Walker (Scott Bakula) but Dakos tries to stop the building but couldn’t as George’s deteriorating health finally starts to catch up to him.

While Irwin Winkler does a good job in capturing the film’s performances, conflicts, and parts of the story along with Vilmos Zsigmond’s cinematography, particularly on the sunset beach scenes. The film is very messy and way melodramatic on many parts due to its script. The film tries to be something appealing to the audience on very generic front but doesn’t give the chance to be something more realistic or even attempt to have something fresh on the table. Of course, cancer stories and other stuff would be the likes of fans of melodrama but it’s been done so many times and nothing new is arose. Even the film’s use of music is very questionable as a lot of the stuff in the movie seems very generic with a lot of crap modern rock though a lot of folks would wonder how in the hell stuff like Radiohead and Joni Mitchell are doing in a soundtrack filled with crap.

Then there are the performances of the film that do work on many levels and some parts just aren’t tolerated. Kevin Kline is excellent as George Monroe as he plays someone desperate and frustrated about the way his life as become while trying to repair things. Kristin Scott Thomas does an excellent job as the mother though it’s kind of the same character she played in “The Horse Whisperer” with Robert Redford and Scarlett Johansson although in this film, she gets to have more fun. The smaller performances of Scott Bakula, Sam Robards, Jamey Sheridan, and John Pankow were well used though Bakula in the films seems to be underused and his character doesn’t really add anything to the film.

Ian Somerhalder’s role is also a bit underused though he does steal a scene where he sleeps with Mary Steenburgen’s character in the film, who does an excellent job as George’s somewhat sympathetic neighbor and looks great by the way, in black lingerie. Jena Malone delivers probably the film’s best performance, second to Kline, as Alyssa where she not only tries to seduce Sam a bit but steals the show in a scene where she kisses Kevin Kline in the lips as she proved she too, can play a Lolita-like character. The film’s most questionable performance is Hayden Christensen. Though he does have a few good moments in the film when he’s just talking to Kevin Kline in the film, his portrayal of Sam was just awful as he just keeps on whining, b*tching, moping, and everything that makes the performance just a torture for the audience and this is the bloke they had used to play Anakin Skywalker? Ugh. I’m giving Christensen one more shot with “Shattered Glass” but if he blows it, I’m going to ream his *ss for the rest of his career.

“Life as a House” is a film with some good moments but doesn’t deliver in its promise. Instead, the film just relies on trying to appeal on a wide audience instead of being something challenging. Though there’s a good cast, with the exception of Hayden Christensen, it’s not enough to save the film. Irwin Winkler doesn’t really give the film a lot of depth due to its melodramatic script and generic tone. Fans of Kline, Thomas, and Malone would like the film for its respective performances but will be tortured by its mediocre script. In the end, just watch “Life as a House” for some of its performances and scenes.


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older