The Life of Chuck, written and directed by Mike Flanagan, based on the Stephen King novella contained in the collection, if It Bleeds.
Rarely does a film replicate the plot line and story structure of its source material to a tee.
It was months between my reading of Stephen King’s novella and attending an advance screening of director Mike Flanagan’s adaptation, but I do not recall any major adding, deleting or altering of main characters and plotline in the two versions of The Life of Chuck.
The film opened in select cities on June 6, and then goes nationwide on June 13.
Expect some spoilers. You've been warned.
The story covers the life of one man, Charles “Chuck” Krantz (Tom Hiddleston). He lived a brief existence, a mere 39 years. His life unfolds in three parts, beginning with an epitaph and working in reverse.
The first act depicts images of Chuck on billboards and digital advertising, thanking him for his 39 years while the rest of the world is driving to at least a pause, if not to a dreadful end. The Internet no longer works. People quit their jobs and generally check out of life.
The middle portion finds a slightly younger Chuck (also played by Hiddleston) recently diagnosed with a terminal illness, nevertheless finding joy by singing and dancing in the middle of an outdoor shopping mall. Although Chuck made his living as an accountant, the man truly has dancing talent.
A final sequence shows Chuck coming of age in his childhood (played by Jacob Tremblay). A gym teacher (Kate Siegel) inspires Chuck to pursue an after-school dance class. After fits and starts, Chuck emerges as the school’s top dancer. He overcomes some insecurities and asks his fellow classmate, Cat (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) to dance at a year end event.
In a final scene and having earlier endured the heartbreaking news of the death of his parents, he receives a supernatural premonition of his life’s future, which motivates his life’s choices that we previously saw in act two. I apologize for the vague paraphrasing, but that’s about all I can reveal without entirely ruining the story for a prospective reader and/or viewer.
So, while the story and the film remain close in plot and character, it’s the written form that invokes the more visceral response.
King’s opening act creates a sense of mystery. Who is Chuck, and why is the main character, only depicted as someone who’s in advertising? The book format allows the reader to go back and re-read certain details. The film on the hand, moves at breakneck speed, blink, miss it, and you’re left utterly confused. (Or in my case, get up and refill your popcorn and you miss it.)
The story blends genres. A first act dips a toe into the sci-fi apocalyptic world. The middle portion plays like a Broadway musical. And the concluding segment is a clear coming-of-age drama.
Stephen King is the master genre writer and seamlessly weaves the three together. I’m left puzzled as to the need to adapt to the big screen.
Audiences are paying for and conditioned to know that if a film opens as sci-fi, it should ends as sci-fi. It’s a bit jarring if the second major sequence turns into a musical and the viewer is left thinking they’ve been transported to another movie.
So, if anything, the close adaptation provides a conceit for analyzing two different mediums trying to execute the exact same material. I don’t always say so, but in this case, the adage, “the book is better than the movie” holds true.
Although King, raised Methodist and still a believer in God, has woven Bible messages into his work before -- but not in this case. The Life of Chuck, while still uplifting and life-affirming, is more personal and cosmological than theological (although there aren't any messages denigrating faith).
But there might still be larger parallels to the theological world as well. Interest in the tactile world of books and written word are up in recent years.
So, too, in many parts of the Western world is church attendance on the rise. For Catholics, that means both hearing of the Word of God and the reception of the physical sacrament of the Eucharist.
So, maybe seeing The Life of Chuck on the screen will send folks back to the page, in search of what King originally wanted to say.
It's still great, though, to see Tom Hiddleston cut a rug ...
Image: NEON
Click here to visit Father Vince Kuna’s IMDB page.
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