“LIFE ITSELF” My rating: A- (Opening July 11 at the Tivoli)
115 minutes | MPAA rating: R
“Life Itself” is about a man redeemed by love.
Of course it’s about a lot more than that. Its subject is the late Roger Ebert, the world’s most famous movie critic — hell, the most famous critic in any discipline — and it follows his career from high school journalist to Johnny Carson regular and on to his development as a one-man publishing empire and his death last year after a long and crippling battle with cancer.
That’s the public Ebert. But the emotional narrative that emerges from Steve James’ wonderful documentary is that of a borderline raging egoist who late in life met the right woman and discovered his softer, more humane side, spending his last years basking in the glow of extended family and relishing his role as step-grandpa. It’s the Roger Ebert we never knew until now.
This film is a profound and deeply moving portrait not just of a great thinker and communicator, but of a brave and — at long last — caring man.
James — whose 1994 documentary “Hoop Dreams” was championed by Ebert and his TV partner, Gene Siskel — was invited by the critic and his wife Chaz to spend time with them in order to produce a documentary based on Ebert’s 2011 memoir Life Itself. James had barely gotten started on the project when Ebert died in 2013.
But James forged ahead, using what little original footage he already had, combining it with archival material and the recollections of Ebert’s friends, family, colleagues (critics like A.O.Scott, Richard Corliss and Jonathan Rosenbaum), as well as famous filmmakers — Martin Scorsese (a producer of the doc), Werner Herzog, Errol Morris — whose careers were advanced by his perceptive and appreciative reviews.
The resulting film is funny, eye-opening, and inspiring. It’s going to score mightily when awards season kicks into high gear.
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