MovieChat Forums > That's Life! (1986) Discussion > Love Lemmon, Andrews and Blake Edwards.....

Love Lemmon, Andrews and Blake Edwards...BUT...


I just watched this movie. And I kind of like "talk" movies like this, like Same Time Next Year and California Suite with Alan Alda. It had a great performance by Jack Lemmon, but this just isn't a good movie. Movies like this, that actually works, has a perfect mix between jokes, surprises, drama, sexual tension, a little physical comedy and something that reminds you of a story. When I watched this movie I was thinking "Please, for the love of god, stop talking!!"

Like I said, it had a great performance by Jack Lemmon, and I think it could have been awesome if it was done right. But the way it turned out, it is a complete disaster. I was slightly disgusted by the operation room scenes, and the analysing of that thing, whatever it was. I was also slightly disgusted by Jack Lemmon scratching his crotch all the time. I just didn't get a good vibe, or any sympathy for the characters. Julie Andrews did a rather low key and boring performance, so it was just Jack Lemmon talking the whole time. I was hoping for lively banter between the who, like Jane Fonda and Alan Alda in California Suite, but it was just a dead, boring thing.

This movie probably looked good on paper, like it did on the back of the cover, but it should never have been made. Blake Edwards usually make wonderful movies, so I don't know what he was thinking. If you wanna see something that really reminds you of real life, and how boring it can be, see this.

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There's also too much nepotism in the casting (for those of us who know more than we should about the personal lives of celebrities), which helps kill the suspension of disbelief that is necessary to buy into a movie.

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