Life or Something Like It (2002)

A reporter, Lanie Kerrigan, 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.

The moral of this story has been told ever single time from "It's a Wonderful Life", to "Last Holiday", even to "Click". Each of these movies have always won me over because I love moral stories and I certainly love this movie!

Sure, you've seen this so many times before. Sure, it's filled with clichéd, Sure, it's predictable what's going to happen before it happens. But it's a feel good movie. It puts a smile on your face when it ends. Don't go on the movie too hard.

I loved the performance by Angelina Jolie. The supporting characters give us some laughs along the way, although the film isn't too funny but more like a drama. I like the score for the film. I liked the film a lot but not as much as I thought it would be. Still, it was a pretty good film if you like moral movies. "Live everyday like it will be your last."

Fmovies: Nothing like real life! Fancy directorial touches--and Angelina Jolie looking sexy in a Marilyn Monroe platinum 'do--cannot save innocuous, superficial film about a TV news-anchor being told she will die in a week by a street psychic with an impeccable record. Romantic side-plot between Jolie and cameraman Ed Burns never heats up, although Jolie is quite an intriguing presence all on her own (her performance is generally uneven, but her beautiful face is always worth reading). Has a few strong scenes, and an interesting supporting performance from Stockard Channing as a Barbara Walters-type, however the script doesn't dig very deep. **1/2 from ****

I wouldn't watch this movie.

I gotta start off by saying that I'm still not sure if Jolie's character was a brunette or a blonde naturally. All the "young Jolie" pictures show her blonde (I thought) but she's obviously not a natural blonde.

Honestly, when I leave a movie that's supposed to make me re-evaluate my life and what it means to live (like American Beauty did) and the only thing I can think about is the hair color of the star I think the movie failed. Sure, it wasn't too hard to watch and it worked out well as a Saturday afternoon hang-out w/ the lady-friend flick, but w/ Jolie I was really hoping this movie would fulfill its promise and be the engaging, interesting, thought-provoking film that it could be. Instead we see very strong similarities to American Beauty w/ a little "To Die For" thrown in for good measure and a helpin' heapin' of a John Cusack film (doesn't really matter which)

What really bugs me about this film though is that I really thought the cast was great. They were so believable (well, except for Jolie's hair, which really is a character in its own right) and their performances were so strong that as I look back on the film I really don't understand where it went wrong...maybe it tried to hard at the end, maybe all the logic fell apart just to bring about the thrilling climax, maybe it felt too much like a parody of tv news to also be the love story/life lesson that it also sought to be. Sure parodies can have morals and realistic love stories but this one doesn't.

I wouldn't avoid this film, but I wouldn't seek it out either.

Life or Something Like It fmovies. LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT has a premise of reporter Lanie Kerrigan being told by a homeless man that she's going to die in a few days from now and right away I was expecting some bitter-sweet angst , a sort of present day morality tale inspired by Frank Capra and I guess very early in production this was the idea but I was left confused . Is it a redemption tale ? If so then why does Lanie start out as a not unlikable person and remain a not unlikable person throughout the movie ? You see there's little in the way of character development and the situations and soul searching never seem to draw the audience into Lanie's fears . None of this is helped Stephen Herek's shallow direction either

In short this is a shallow film but while being confused as to what it's trying to say it's also fairly watchable too . Angelina Jolie is breath takingly beautiful and in many ways she's like a female Leonardo Dicaprio in that her good looks disguise she's a much better actress than critics give her credit for and imagine how worse the movie would be if her role was taken by say Sandra Bulloch while Dave Newman's haunting score also helps the movie greatly

I don't know why people have given this movie bad reviews - I really enjoyed it! I don't think the product placement was at all bad... who cares??? Those are things we all use everyday anyway, right? The movie was absolutely wonderful and all of the actors played a great role. The only thing I didn't like was Angelina's hair - she does NOT do blonde very well. Other than that, she did a wonderful job with her character, Lanie - who feels she has to be perfect in order to be "special", she has the perfect boyfriend (or so she thinks), the perfect body, the perfect apartment, and hopes within 5 years she can achieve success in her perfect broadcasting job. Until she meets "Prophet Jack" played by Tony Shaloub (who also does a wonderful job - as usual) who tells her she will die in 7 days. She starts to realize everything she has been working for is superficial and meaningless. You have to see this movie to see what she does in her last week --- & IF she even dies. Two Thumbs way, way up! ;)

"Life or Something Like It" is a romantic comedy that wants to be a drama about reevaluating one's life circumstances. It was a movie with a lot of very good actors in it, particularly Angelina Jolie, Ed Burns, and Tony Shaloub. However, in the end, it wasn't as original as it could have been, and its message is far from unique. If I had a nickel for every time a movie used the hackneyed phrase, "Live life to its fullest", I would probably never have to shell out my last ten dollars to see a movie at the movie theater again. For those reasons, the movie was really just okay to me; not great.

Angelina Jolie stars as Lanie Kerrigan, a young ambitious TV reporter who is already well-recognized and credible in her local Seattle network affiliate. Her ambition is to be a reporter on the "Today Show"-like network morning news show "AM USA". When she gets the opportunity to audition for the show, a street psychic (the great Tony Shaloub) "prophesizes" her death effective seven days from the day she asked.

Admittedly, it is nice to see Jolie in a role that doesn't involve her being a tough-as-nails action hero or a sex kitten. Also, she had some good parts in this movie that were a bit heartfelt, such as when she reflects on her rebellious childhood, or reconnects with her blue-collar father. However, as good an actress as Jolie truly is, my guess is that she must not have done much research for her role. Why? Because she is completely unconvincing as a TV reporter. When asking questions (particularly in her last interview), she practically whispered her questions, which is something TV reporters (at least good ones) should not and do not do. Jolie probably should have studied Katie Couric or Meredith Viera, and she wouldn't even have to leave her trailer to do it either.

Her romance with Ed Burns' character was also really hokey, not to mention predictable. He's a good looking guy, and they fight constantly in the beginning of the movie. Such a setup is so overdone (even dating as far back as Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing") and so unoriginal that I was not surprised at all when their romantic scene came up. It surprised me too, because Burns is not only one of the more likable lead actors in the history of romantic comedies, but he has also starred in, written, and directed some of the most original romantic comedies ever ("The Brothers McMullan", "She's The One"). Burns is still likable in his role, but this romantic subplot is so cliché that it really ruins the film.

The plot involving Jolie trying to deny or avoid death was also completely unbelievable, particularly towards the end. First, without ruining anything, Jolie's character realization of her fate in the very end seemed a bit contrived given her circumstances. Second, I didn't really get involved with her character enough to care if she died in the end. I guess the character wasn't developed enough, or the plot was too flimsy and archaic. I can't decide which.

This movie was certainly not terrible, and it had its moments. For the most part, though, there were too many scenes in this movie that went beyond the laws of common sense that it was just too unbelievable. Other scenes, if not unbelievable, were just too predictable. If the movie had decided to just be a movie about a successful woman's pre-midlife crisis based on false prophecy, and not a romantic comedy in "Deep Thoughts" cloth