Families, it seems, are by nature dysfunctional'or at least the movies have told us so lately. And to some extent it is true. The modern family does not hug at the end of each problematic half hour, a la \Full House,"" if it ever did. However, it seems that audiences, with their own peculiar families, would like to see the good win out sometimes, even if it's not possible in their own households. This is why Irwin Winkler's ""Life as a House,"" with all of its flaws, works.
""Life"" tells the story of George (Kevin Kline), a divorced, middle-aged architect living in a dilapidated, bathroomless shed of a house on the East Coast. The same day he is fired from the job he has held for 20 years, he discovers he has cancer and is dying. As he faces a suddenly shortened future, George decides exactly what he needs to accomplish: Reconcile with his son (Hayden Christensen) and build his dream house, thereby tearing down the demons that exist for him there and leaving his son something to be proud of.
As the cancer eats away at his body, George begins to reconnect with the people he loves most and have been most important to his life: his son Sam and his ex-wife, Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas).
It is gratifying to watch each of them grow in love and respect for the others, reforming their bonds in understanding and forgiveness. George's imminent death, while not surprising, is no less sad for having accomplished this.
Kline is excellent as the very likeable, very human George, who rises to the challenge of his disease and leaves the last months of his life the very best that he possibly could. George has palpable onscreen chemistry with his family and makes the cancer seem real by the fact that he works so hard not to show his struggle to his son. Thomas also brings depth to her role as Robin, a woman who gives all of her love and attention to her sons in the shadow of her workaholic second husband. The love she and George feel for each other is heartbreaking because the audience can see their grief that love was not enough to save their marriage.
Christensen also turns in a wonderful performance, his first in mainstream film before he hits superstardom as Anakin Skywalker in next year's ""Star Wars: Episode II."" As Sam, a drugged-out cynic who learns to love his father again, Christensen proves he has the acting chops to handle a very difficult piece with ease.
Unfortunately, where ""Life"" seems to suffer a bit is in the unforgivable area of the story. Cancer movies have been done in numerous shapes and forms over the past couple of decades, and oftentimes they have been done well. Kline cannot match Debra Winger's rip-your-heart-out performance in ""Terms of Endearment."" Even in the realm of the family drama, ""Life"" cannot match the startling ""American Beauty.""
But perhaps that is the point: It is a quiet movie about a single family reconciling before death. It is not about competing, but simply about the optimism of love winning out. And that is the kind of triumph that movies are all about.
