Two Supernovas Gobsmacking, sizzling, scintillating cinema.
There are actors, there are movie stars and then there are cinematic supernovas: two together on the same screen in every frame here,
Dane De Haan and Robert Pattinson absolutely kill it in Life.
Enormous screen presence and superb acting the both of them, they do more than honor the two historical persons they portray: they create brilliantly nuanced, realistic, convincing characters capturing the essence of these persons.
What a plethora of meaningless reviews here on IMDB!
"De Haan doesn't look like James Dean, it spoils the movie!" Seriously folks? Is that what "biopics" are supposed to do? Mimic in a literal way the looks and mannerisms of the subject and forget about getting to their human essence and character?
You're looking at what's on the screen but you're not seeing what's really there: the flaws, the doubts, the conflictedness, the messiness of being human. Pattinson and de Haan create level upon level of all this in their work here, rendering Stock and Dean as the authentic humans they were, not merely the romanticized figures of pop mythology. Their acting is low key, slow, a mere facial expression conveying oodles of emotional depth.
They're aided in this by a brilliantly natural script, witty, self deprecating, ringing utterly true in its colloquial tone.
Above all, what viewers have missed is that this movie is a homage to the photographic image. And the director, having been a photographer in his previous work knows exactly what he's doing.
He's recreating the classic images from Life magazine, he's photographing the photographer, and every single frame is exquisitely composed as a stand alone still photograph.
The Indiana scenes in particular, both inside the family home and outside in the snowed under landscape are paradigmatic instances of how to use every square millimetre of the screen without crowding it with clutter. Absolutely superbly balanced cinematic images alone making it worthwhile watching the movie.
Ok you get the point, I loved it, I enjoyed it, I found respect for the historical persons depicted, I saw elements of homage to the photographic image. All beautifully exemplifying the duality of the title "Life".
Outstanding cinema, can't wait to rewatch soon.