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‘The Life of Chuck’ is an apocalyptic, soul-seeking puzzle that’s missing a few pieces

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It’s quite arrogant to think you’re experiencing the final days on Earth. While it might occasionally pop into your mind, you can dismiss it by contemplating what it must have felt like to witness historic events such as the Dust Bowl, the French Revolution, or the fall of Tenochtitlan. Contrarily, “The Life of Chuck,” a moving novel by Mike Flanagan (“Doctor Sleep”) based on a 2020 novella by Stephen King, presents a different perspective. In this story, told in reverse order through three short tales, the death of an ordinary accountant, Chuck Krantz (Tom Hiddleston), marks the end times for the characters within his mind.

In this story, characters such as Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Felicia (Karen Gillan), their acquaintances, and colleagues are unaware that their seemingly ordinary lives are nothing more than a dying man’s dream. The world around them appears to be collapsing, while mysterious billboards and advertisements praising an unknown Chuck for “39 fantastic years” mysteriously appear on every surface. No one can determine the significance of these years. “He’s our last meme,” Marty quips humorously. In truth, the movie commences when Chuck is 39 years old and nearing the end of his life due to brain cancer. The narrative then rewinds nine months prior and subsequently jumps back to his childhood days. As we progress through the film from his deathbed to his youth, it becomes clear that the townspeople who share the same faces and behaviors as people Chuck knew during his childhood are doomed.

It’s inspiring to believe that even an ordinary person like Chuck has a rich inner life full of stories as complex as “The Iliad.” Interestingly, this perspective is characteristic of authors like Stephen King who craft entire tales around ordinary people they encounter. To me, my mind might just be filled with shopping lists and song lyrics.

The film divides its story into Act Three, highlighting its structure. Similarly, the book follows suit with this format. “The Life of Chuck” is a nearly word-for-word adaptation, incorporating additional humor and heavily relying on a narrator, Nick Offerman, who delivers King’s words with the enthusiasm of a nature documentary host. At first, King intended to write only the middle-aged chapters of Chuck’s life, but a year later he expanded these sections by adding the prologue about his boyhood and an extra dose of supernatural elements. In his author’s note, King lets readers judge for themselves the success of his storytelling structure.

Essentially, the device isn’t functioning, but I understand why he attempted the reorganization. The concluding part is where the character feels most like Chuck, making it the most ordinary. An adolescent named Chuck resides with his grandparents, Albie and Sarah (Mark Hamill and Mia Sara). His life unfolds in a rather uneventful coming-of-age tale. He experiences loss, interacts with his neighbor Vera (Heather Langenkamp), learns to dance – waltz, samba, and moonwalk. At different stages of his life, Chuck is portrayed by Cody Flanagan, Benjamin Pajak, and Jacob Tremblay. Additionally, he stumbles upon a mystical doorway at the top of the stairs that the script fails to delve into sufficiently. Instead, it leaves the film’s everyman theme unclear. If you were to watch the movie from the end, you wouldn’t feel inclined to find out what transpires next.

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Mark Hamill, known for over four decades as Luke Skywalker, shares insights about discovering renewed meaning in Mike Flanagan’s “The Life of Chuck.” He also expresses opinions against President Trump and works towards recovery following the Malibu wildfires.

earthquakes in California, volcanoes in Germany, nuclear meltdown in Japan. These disasters occur all at once, with so many calamities happening quickly that the bad news feels like an emotional snowslide for Marty. Fortunately, the internet is experiencing problems too, giving Marty a sense of shared excitement when he gives up trying to get service and discards his phone.

In an extraordinary moment, Matthew Lillard’s character, Gus, suggests a detour to Matty (Marty) due to a sudden sinkhole blocking the usual route to work. This hole has left twenty cars and their drivers stranded below, with Gus casually mentioning that some of them may not be rescued. The shocking chaos of so many terrible events happening simultaneously leaves Gus in a state of amused astonishment. However, without him realizing it, a single tear escapes.

In this production, there’s not much depicted destruction on-screen. Instead, Flanagan focuses on exploring how despair affects the human spirit and can provide solace as well. He predicts that suicide and divorce rates will increase based on this. Felicia, played by Gillan, is a perfect example of this, being both a disheartened nurse and a solitary divorcée. I find his analysis convincing, and it’s intriguing to listen in on Marty’s parent-teacher meetings where adults seem indifferent about their children’s future prospects. One father (David Dastmalchian) even uses the session to complain about his difficulty accessing adult content online.

The initial part is brilliantly executed, even if the celestial spa music by the Newton Brothers is a bit over-the-top. I would’ve enjoyed an extra hour of this Chuck-centric apocalypse, where, as his body gives out, the stars in the sky gradually fade away one by one, bringing a sense of dark amusement or schadenfreude. Unfortunately, as the title character recovers, the film seems to lose its energy and vitality.

During one of his last days before learning about his terminal illness, the character Chuck unexpectedly performs a dance with two strangers in the second part of the movie. This scene is filled with joy and grace, much like the movie’s main theme of finding magic in the ordinary. After the performance ends, there’s an awkward silence between the trio as they realize they’ve shared something extraordinary but don’t know quite how to continue the conversation beyond saying goodbye. The dance sequence, like the film, beautifully captures this idea.

The movie version of the story has certain benefits over the book version. For instance, the director cleverly uses double casting for some actors, such as portraying tragic Marty, a former teacher, whom young Chuck recognizes from school. Unfortunately, Lillard and Dastmalchian, who played these roles, are not seen again in the film. Yet, the choice of casting itself serves to evoke our own memories. Many of the supporting actors are well-known for iconic roles that have left a lasting impact on audiences. Hamill is famous from “Star Wars”, Sarah from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, Langenkamp from “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and Lillard from “Scream”. If it was just one or two well-known figures, it wouldn’t stand out. But when so many iconic faces are used, the film itself is making a statement to even the most casual of viewers: there are certain faces that will remain etched in our minds forever.

In simpler terms, The film “The Life of Chuck” wasn’t particularly profound philosophically, but there was one thing about it that I appreciated. A few days later, I shared the story with a friend at a new steakhouse in Koreatown. We were in a secluded booth when the waiter overheard us talking about moonwalking and showed off his dance moves. Inspired by the film’s message – that special moments may be all that truly matter – I got up and danced with him, creating a magical moment out of an ordinary situation. It was quite wonderful.

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2025-06-05 19:31

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