 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Life as a House
- Review Date: July 31, 2005
- R
- Genre: Drama
- 2001
Common Sense Media says
Uneven but moving story of reconcilliation.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this movie has drug use, very strong language, sexual situations and references, including teen prostitution, nudity, masturbation involving attempted suffocation, and adult-teen sexual encounters. Teenagers take very foolish risks with little consequence beyond their own misery. There is a very sad death.
What's the story?
Kevin Kline plays George, an unhappy man who creates meticulously crafted models in an architectural firm. His skills are no longer valuable in an era of computerized design, his ex-wife does not like him, his teenage son hates everyone, including himself, and his house is literally falling down around him. When George is fired, he decides to tear down his house, which was built by his own father, and build a new one with his son, Sam (Hayden Christiansen). At first, Sam is hostile and uncooperative. Then he is hostile and a little bit cooperative. Then he, like George, learns the power of tearing down painful parts of their history and starting over again to build something new. George's ex-wife Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas) and her children become intrigued with the project. And the pretty teenager next door becomes intrigued with Sam. Soon, everybody is pitching in except for the angry neighbor who vows to stop them.
Is it any good?
When a movie is called LIFE AS A HOUSE, you enter on full metaphor alert. When it turns out to be about an estranged father and son who pull down an old shack and construct a dream house overlooking the ocean and it turns out to be a transforming experience for everyone who happens by while it is in progress plus including a tragic death that is still another transforming experience for everyone, you have every right to expect a generic made-for-TV-movie uplifting weepie. But this movie gives us something more, thanks to a script by Mark Andrus (of "As Good as it Gets") and a first-rate cast.
There is a lot wrong with Life as a House. The plot is creaky and manipulative. The female characters are all fantasy figures. Some of the plot lines never get resolved -- they just stop (or, in one case, just fall off the roof). The solution to the problem with the neighbor is unintentionally unnerving. But there is a lot that is right with the movie, too, including subtle, magnetic performances and moments of real power and feeling. If the movie is not as dazzling as the finished house, at least it is not as decrepit as the shack.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about why it was so hard for Sam to feel good about himself, and why the things he tried to make himself feel better did not work. What did he mean when he said that it felt better to feel things? Why was physical touch so important to many of the characters? Families will also want to talk about the behavior of Colleen and Alyssa and their decisions about their sexual relationships.
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Inspiring!
I found this movie to be one of the most inspiring films I have ever watched. I think that, even though it deals with some sketchy subjects, every teenager in America should be exposed to this film. It took me out of my egocentric teenage world for a while and made me feel a whole new level of apreciation for my parents and loved ones. The film was incredible.
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| Studio: | New Line |
| Director: | Irwin Winkler |
| Cast: | Hayden Christensen, Jena Malone, Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 125 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | October 26, 2001 |
| DVD release date: | March 26, 2002 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | language, sexuality and drug use |
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