Subjectivism told in a tender, witty, and playful fable

First act: The data, just the data (more or less). Chuck's Life is divided into three acts. Each one is of a different genre: an apocalyptic tale, a musical anecdote, and a coming-of-age story. In addition, this film, which adapts a book by Stephen King's kindest and most humanistic author (that of Count on me either The Green Mile) begins at the end: from the character's death to his childhood. And Mike Flanagan, an author accustomed to horror, debuts in a sentimental and fabulous fantastical register, which can remind The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Forrest Gump either Amélie.

Second act: There are always grumpsFlanagan's film has a somewhat whimsical and disjointed structure. The voiceover is repetitive and cloying. The deliberately artificial world he puts on screen, reminiscent of that ofThe Truman Show, it's corny. And poetry, when it's overexplained (like Walt Whitman's verses, which are overanalyzed here), ceases to be poetic.

Third Act: Is another good-vibe cinema possible? As can be seen in this very text, a formal narrative game is not always synonymous with major daring. It is not genius. However, it invites the viewer-reader to decode the information following different guidelines and brings out their feelings in a different way. This capital cannot be denied to Chuck's Life, a movie feel-good about the solipsism that the pre-prepared discourse doesn't give you. Or at least, not all of it.