The Life of Chuck

Directed by Mike Flanagan, The Life of Chuck follows Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Marty as he and several other characters prepare for the end of the world – with the recurring references to a man named Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) complicating matters to an increasingly prominent degree. Filmmaker Flanagan, armed with his own screenplay, does a terrific job of instantly luring the viewer into the proceedings, as The Life of Chuck, which begins with Act 3 and subsequently moves backwards, kicks off with a stirring, often strikingly bleak opening stretch that’s heightened by Ejiofor’s completely compelling performance – with the actor’s top-flight efforts matched by periphery players like Karen Gillan, David Dastmalchian, and Carl Lumbly. (Matthew Lillard’s one-scene appearance as Marty’s pragmatic neighbor is nothing short of mesmerizing, ultimately.) From there, The Life of Chuck segues into a compelling (albeit progressively erratic) narrative that boasts its fair share of spellbinding sequences (eg Chuck and a stranger perform an impromptu dance in a shopping plaza), and yet it’s clear that certain stretches within the movie’s second half, which predominantly focuses on Chuck’s childhood and adolescence, seem to drag on longer than necessary (or preferred). (It’s equally apparent, by the time everything’s said and done, that this portion of the narrative is more important than anything that’s come before, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s ultimately not as compelling.) The touching, small-scale conclusion cements The Life of Chuck’s place as a mostly rewarding piece of work, and it admittedly does seem as though the picture will improve considerably on repeat viewings.

***1/2 out of ****