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‘The Life of Chuck’ Review: Mike Flanagan Reflects On Our Troubled Times With His Adaptation Of Stephen King’s Poignant Short Story Of Love, Life And Death – Toronto Film Festival
‘The Life of Chuck’ review: Mike Flanagan reflects on our troubled times with his adaptation of Stephen King’s poignant story – Toronto Film Festival
Flanagan introduced the world premiere at Toronto with a quote from King himself: “When an old man dies, a library burns down.” Its relevance is not immediately clear but will become so over time, just as the recurring image of a billboard paying tribute to Charles “Chuck” Kranz — an accountant (played by Tom Hiddleston) retiring after “39 great years” — will finally reveal itself in the third act (which is actually the first, since the film unfolds in reverse order). Equally surprising is the casting; though Kranz is the focus, and steals the film with an extended dance routine midway through, The Life of Chuck is an ensemble piece, narrated by Nick Offerman, and it’s arguable whether Hiddleston even has enough screentime to warrant a nomination come awards season. The first act is the third (“Thanks, Chuck!”), and it concerns schoolteacher Marty Anderson ( Chiwetel Ejiofor), who presses on with his job in the face of societal collapse, teaching Walt Whitman to a class still dealing with the loss of the internet (“Even Pornhub’s down,” a forlorn parent laments).
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