It’s difficult deciding how much one should know about a film before watching it for the first time. That’s why I sometimes hate movie trailers because they either give too much away or don’t seem to know what the movie is really about themselves. The latter doesn’t happen that often anymore.

I saw the trailer for The Life of Chuck months ago and was intrigued by all of the A-listers in the cast and the image of Tom Huddleston dancing in a suit and tie in the middle of some town square. But I saw the trailer only once and then nothing. Then Mark Hamel did an interview on a podcast promoting the film, based on a Steven King novella, saying that he plays the grandfather and that it’s a very sweet story. He also noted that it’s told in reverse order beginning with Act 3 then Act 2 and ending with Act 1. Okay, this should prove to be interesting. 

Alas, one older fellow at the showing I attended didn’t know about the reverse order and when the Act 3 title card flashed on the screen at the beginning of the film he got up in a huff and loudly said, I didn’t see the first part yet! And then stormed out of the theater. So, I guess this proves that one shouldn’t go into some films totally blind. Ack. 

Hamel was right, it was a very sweet story about the choices we make in life and how things play out even when we are just reacting to all of the unknowable twists and turns along the way. There’s also something here about how one reacts if one knows how one’s story will play out. Do you accept your fate or fear it? Our culture doesn’t deal with death very well, if at all and only sees it as something tragic and unwanted at any age. From this sixty-something year-old’s point of view, I clearly recognize that this story is written from the point of view of someone who has already lived a life and can’t help but look back at all of the things that could have been part of his story, but wasn’t. In this case, telling the story in reverse order totally makes sense. But then, I’m a little weird that way. Enjoy. 

[Movie viewed at AMC Town Square on 2025-06-22]

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Tags: 2025 movies, life choices, movie review, Steven King, video Wednesdays

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