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Life Or Something Like It [VHS]

Life Or Something Like It [VHS]
Directed by Stephen Herek

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A reporter, Lanie Kerrigan (Jolie), interviews a psychic homeless man (Shalhoub) for a fluff piece about a football game's score. Instead, he tells her that her life has no meaning, and is going to end in just a few days, which sparks her to action, trying to change the pattern of her life...

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Angelina Jolie proves her box-office versatility in Life or Something Like It, a romantic comedy (Jolie's first) that succeeds on the strength of Jolie's appealing performance. As Seattle TV news reporter Lanie Kerrigan, Jolie craves celebrity (i.e., she's insecure and seeks approval), but her disapproving cameraman (Edward Burns) detects an admirable woman beneath Lanie's bleached-blond coif and pancake makeup. When a homeless street prophet (Tony Shalhoub) predicts that Lanie will soon be dead, she gradually juggles her priorities, connecting with Burns, appearing drunk on camera (a mistake that ultimately works in her favor), and finding new confidence in her professional and romantic potential. It's generic fluff, but director Stephen Herek (Rock Star, Mr. Holland's Opus) approaches the material with his reliably good-natured sincerity, and Jolie's bubbly charm mixes well with Burns's casual sensibility. And while Herek can't compare to George Cukor or Billy Wilder, he knows just how to handle the inevitable loopholes in the prophet's not-so-gloomy premonition. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
Not much like it, actually. Angelina Jolie, her hair in a dreadful blond bouffant, is the smart but shallow Lanie Kerigan, a Seattle local-news TV reporter who wants to go network. Her life begins to fall apart when a street bum who makes prophecies (Tony Shalhoub) says she will die in a week. She is forced to encounter what's authentic in this world, which turns out to be Edward Burns, unshaven, as a cameraman with a devil-may-care attitude. Will she be saved from the unspeakable crime of careerism and learn to enjoy life? Written by John Scott Shepherd and directed by Stephen Herek. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker



Rating: 1 out of 5 stars - If Joilie is in it, then it is stupid....
This is another rupulisve movie. Everyone in this movie looks like they were ready to play in a porn flick, and it comes off as porn, even though they still keep their clothes on. Jolie shows of her looks, her lack of acting ability clearly evident, and shows that this is a stupid production.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - WOW DANG ONE OF THE BEST TV DVD-MOVE FOR SHORE EVER DONE
NOW I COULD EASYLY SAY THIS WILL GO DOWN AS ONE OF THE GRATEST MOVE EVER MADE IN THE WORLD THAT IS SO FOR SHORE & THAT IS PUTTING IT LIGHTLY


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Huge Fan
I am a huge fan of Angelina Jolie's. And if you are too, this is a movie you should not miss. It's great as a date movie or not, charming and cute. And who doesn't love Angelina!! She's reason enough to own the dvd. And my husband will agree to that!


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - A Very Memorable Movie
I was surprised that this movie turned out to be very good. Angelina Jolie gives a very good performance as Lanie a reporter who learns from a street psychic that she has seven days to live. In those seven days she evolves into a better person who really wants to live and be happy. Is it enough to save her from dying? A movie worth watching.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - An interesting idea for a story but very uneven results
"Life or Something Like It" is one of those films where the idea is intriguing, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. The central character is Lanie Kerigan (Angelina Jolie), a hot young feature reporter for a Seattle television station who has a chance of her dream job for the network's morning show, "AM USA." Lanie is paired up with the station's best cameraman, Pete (Edward Burns), although these two clearly have a past that makes this a rocky relationship and assures us that they will end up together before too long. One day Lanie is out on the street filming an interview with Prophet Jack (Tony Shalhoub), a homeless man who is supposedly psychic. During the interview Jack makes three predictions. First, the Seattle Seahawks will win their game 19-13. Second, it will hail the next day. Third, Lanie will die next Thursday. This last one gets her attention.

Of course Lanie is skeptical. But when the first two predictions come true, she starts to become concerned and when Jack offers another prediction that comes about, she really starts to freak. Somewhere in her background Lanie must have studied classical mythology, because she does not really try to thwart her fate, although it takes her a while to accept it. This is for the good, because if she decided that she would stay home in bed all day on Thursday she would end up in a car accident on Wednesday night and linger until the next day. Trying thwart a prophecy only makes things worse; just ask Jocasta and pay attention to how the prophecy in Sophocles' tragedy changes).

The first problem with this 2002 film is that it is a romantic comedy that takes itself too seriously one moment and not seriously enough the next. Feel good movies tend to have scenes where people burst into song, and we have that here. I like the song, but for that character to lead that group in that song at that particular moment is really not a good move (except that the people who wrote the script liked it, so it does work out for the best). People who are actually in the business of television news must be laughing themselves silly at all the stupid bits about their profession in this business; my favorite, but not in a good way, was this idea of showing an interview at 7 in the morning on the east coast live on the west coast.

Ultimately this film gets reduced to a simple platitude and it is at that point that "Life or Something Like It" really betrays its promise. What would have made this film really work is not that it works on a universal level to which we can all relate, but if it drives the point home in terms of Lanie's character in some memorable way. There are a few conventional and unimaginative efforts, but nothing that crystallizes into a transcendent scene that elevates this film to a truly meaningful level. Even if you do not see the ending coming, I doubt that you are going to be surprised that this film wants to have its cake and eat it too.

Jolie's character has trouble shedding her on-camera persona enough to provide true depth to an examination of her life that gets beyond her brave smile, which is different from her on-camera smile. Her romance with Burns is by the numbers and I found myself wishing the film had tried to do more with her relationship with boyfriend Cal Cooper (Christian Kane, an actor who is going to break through in films the way he did on television's "Angel" some day soon), who plays for the Seattle Mariners, because I actually liked his idea of how to try and help her and I thought there was the possibility there for something different. There will be those that really like this film, but even that minority should have no problem in articulating ways in which it could have been so much better.



Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Shockingly Good
I rented this movie thinking that it was going to be a typical romantic comedy. But I ended up loving this movie. Angelina Jolie was perfect for the role. The movie was sweet without going way out of hand with the typical trashy sexual jokes that come every 5 minutes. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes romantic comedies or Angelina Jolie.


Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - Would you turn gay for Angelina?
I sure would, and thanks to being told that I'm not the only one, I decided to use this as my subject line. I find her one of the most attractive women out there, although I definitely prefer guys!

I found a lot of the time during this movie that I was distracted, and not focusing my full attention on it, yet I still understood what was going on. So this shows you can switch your brain off during this, and it doesn't really make any difference - just remember to switch it back on again. It just failed miserably in holding my attention I don't know whether other reviewers found this.

Angelina Jolie does NOT look good as a blonde. Especially with a blonde wig. Now I don't know if it was wigs she wore in Gone In 60 Seconds & Girl Interrupted, but at least her hair moved in those, it rarely does in this. It just doesn't move at all! Her colouring is just too dark to pull off being blonde, and she so suits being her natural colour.

The story could have been a whole lot more interesting if it had tapped into the religious and philosophical side of finding out you only had one week left to live. The finale could have used some of this, but instead seems rushed, and is never really properly concluded in such a way that would leave you feeling sad/happy.

Yet another film that has left me sitting on the fence along with Ella Enchanted. And what's with the cover? How insanely dull. And doesn't tell you anything about the movie. Except that Angelina Jolie plays somebody blonde.




Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - My fave movie!
I remember seeing the trailer for this movie a few years ago (I think I was like 10 or 11?)and I asked my dad if I could see it, and he said no way. I wanted to see it because Angelina Jolie was and still is)my favorite actress. He still said no, and during my Thanksgiving break this school year, I was browsing through the movies and had no idea what I was going to rent, because my dad wouldn't let me see Taking Lives,m and I saw the DVD box for this movie, and I was like, "OMG! I remember this!" and so I rented it, and it is actually now my favorite movie! No matter what anyone says about it, I still like it! But enough about that. Now for the review:
Lanie Kerrigan (Angelina Jolie) is a(blonde!-lol, well, I actually like the hair) Seattle news reporter who believes she has the "perfect" life. She has the perfect guy (she's engaged to a famous baseball player), perfect body, and perfect hair, so she thinks she has the perfect life. But then her boss calls her into his office and tells her: 1: He's putting her up for a huge network job (kind of like Diane Sawyer on GMA), and 2: In order to get this job, she has to work with Pete, who is network material and can make her look good on T.V. But Lanie has a problem with this. Why? She can;t stand Pete! They recently had a one-night stand that didn't turn out well. Their first assignment is to go do a story on a local comedy club. Lanie and Pete bicker nonstop, and when it's time to film, Pete takes the mic and fiddles with it, then hands it to Lanie. When she starts talking, her voice comes out all squeaky ,and of course Pete and Vin (the other cameraguy) think it is funny, and Lanie does not. She complains to her boss, who basically does nothing. This scene is where one of my favorite lines are said :"Do you have another cameraguy on this staff who can make her look like a natural blonde?" "I am not just a reporter,I am a T.V. personality. My hair is my trademark, just like the I-don't-like-to-shower look is your trademark. Their next assignment is to interview Prophet Jack, a homeless guy who claims to have psychic visions. Lanie asks him if she will get the big network job, and he says no. Then on camera, she asks him about the football score for that night's game. He says that the home team will win, 19-13. Then she asks him if he has any other predictions, and he says that te next morning it will hail. Then whaen she says that she doubts it and if he would like to take it back, he says no. But his predictions don't end there. He also says that she willl die next Thursday, which shocks her, not so bad until hie other two predictions come true. Then she really starts to freak and asks Jack to take it back. He says he can't because he saw what he saw and it's not his fault. Then he predicts something else fer her: there will be a relatively significiant earthquake in San Fransico at 9:06 the next morning. She turns on the T.V. at 9:06 and waits a few minutes. Then after no news announcements come on, she starts to go crazy, thinking that she won't die. In the middle of her celebration dance, the news comes on and Jack's prediction was right. She calls up her fiancee and he is no help at all. Finally, she is forced to turn to Pete for help. After some banter(which is funny), he tells her to "change the path". Flash foward a few days, and her fiancee comes home from NYC(he was shooting a commericial), and there are fast food wrappers lying around,old yearbooks lying around, and there are records blasting. Lanie is sitting on the couch, in her glasses, which her guy (Cal) seems to have a problem with. To make a long story short, they break up that night. She shows up fo rwork the next morning intoxicated, and ends up singing "I Can't Get No Satifiation". She wakes up iin Pete's bed, and asks if they did it. He says no, that she passed out in his car. She ends up apending the day (and night-if you know what I mean) with Pete. They show up the next morning at work with their arms around each other, then kiss a few times,. A couple of minutes later, she finds out that she did get the job and then goes to tell Pete. They also break up(I've never actually watched this entire scene-every time I try to, I cry). She heads to New York and he goes to tell Jack that Lanie wasn't going to die because his prediction about her not getting the job was wrong. Then Jack says, "Was I?" "What's that supposed to mean?" "Well, if she dies tomorrow, then she dies tomorrow, then she doesn't get the job, and I was right." Pete rushes off to New York to save Lanie. Does she die or can Pete save her? To find out, you'll have to buy the movie. I would highly reccomend this movie to anyone who likes romantic comedies or Angelina Jolie!


Rating: 2 out of 5 stars - Jolie proves more talented than I thought
So I don't like Ed Burns (and this movie does very little to change my mind), and I have only recently begun to have a certain taste for Angelina Jolie. But I am a sucker for anything with Tony Shalhoub in it, even in a small but pivotal role he plays here. Shalhoub's versatility elevates almost any project with which he is associated from mediocrity to something a bit better. I found that to be the case here as well. What is an interesting concept is given a mediocre treatment. Lanie Kerrigan (a bleach blonde Jolie) is an up and coming Seattle tv reporter, perfectly primed for a plum network job (this is her ambition/dream). Teamed with cameraman Pete (Ed Burns), Lanie delivers standard reporting. One day she interviews a homeless "prophet" on the street (the excellent Shalhoub), who predicts various things that later come true. One of his predictions is that Lanie will die on a certain day in two weeks. Lanie comes to take his predictions seriously when all of the other predictions come true. Pete tries to calm Lanie down; Lanie has singlemindedly pursued her professional dreams at a high cost: she has completely lost touch with herself/who she is really. You get a hint of the "Lanie inside" in a scene in which she is unkempt, wearing her glasses, in front of her baseball player boyfriend, and he has no clue who she really is... and it seems she too has fallen out of touch with who she really is. In these self-conscious and introspective moments, when Lanie questions her identity (faced with the likelihood of her mortality), the movie hits a kind of peak. Unfortunately there is very little chemistry between Jolie and Burns, so their romantic spark lacks authenticity. However, though the "get up" (perfect make-up and ridiculous hairdo) is glossy and rather fake, Jolie imbues her role with a certain gravity that lends her character (and her going through the stages of denial and acceptance of her fate) believability. Unfortunately the film as a whole never quite hits its mark, and as a romantic comedy fails because it is not very funny and not very romantic. Jolie, though, does prove that she has much more versatility than I had previously given her credit for.


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - for angelina jolie fans
The plot: Sappy movie where Angelina Jolie learns she has two weeks to live and goes through a midlife crisis because of it. A plus is you get to see her as a blonde.

Who should buy this: Angelina Jolie fans like me who don't care if the movie is bad just whether she gets nekkid in it or . . . um i mean yeah who am I kidding.




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