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Title: Life as a House (2001)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Kevin Kline | ... | George Monroe | |
| Kristin Scott Thomas | ... | Robin Kimball | |
| Hayden Christensen | ... | Sam Monroe | |
| Jena Malone | ... | Alyssa Beck | |
| Mary Steenburgen | ... | Colleen Beck | |
| Mike Weinberg | ... | Adam Kimball | |
| Scotty Leavenworth | ... | Ryan Kimball | |
| Ian Somerhalder | ... | Josh | |
| Jamey Sheridan | ... | Peter Kimball | |
| Scott Bakula | ... | Officer Kurt Walker | |
 |
Sandra Nelson | ... | Nurse #1 |
| Sam Robards | ... | David Dokos | |
| John Pankow | ... | Bryan Burke | |
| Kim Delgado | ... | Bob Larson | |
| Barry Primus | ... | Tom | |
George Monroe (Kevin Kline) is a lonely and sad man. Divorced for ten years, he lives alone on the southern California coast with his pet dog in the same run down shack in which he has lived for twenty-five years, the shack which his father passed down to him. In the intervening years, ostentatious houses have sprung up around him. He's been at the same architectural firm for twenty years in a job he hates, which primarily consists of building scale models. On the day that he is fired from his job, he is diagnosed with an advanced case of terminal cancer, which he chooses not to disclose to his family. In many ways, this day is the happiest of his recent life in that he decides to spend what little time he has left doing what he really wants to do, namely build a house he can call his own to replace the shack. He also wants his rebellious sixteen-year-old son, Sam Monroe (Hayden Christensen), to live with him for the summer, hopefully not only to help in the house construction, but ... Written by Huggo
As predictable as this film is, it moved me in many ways. I am a single father, 58 years old, whose life largely revolves around a wonderful twelve year old boy. He'd better not go down the road of Kevin Kline's teenage kid or I'll kill him! (just kidding-don't call Child Protective Services just yet).
California Cinematic Dreamin' aside, the people here are real. Their vulnerabilities are in the open and they deal with each other as best they can. Kline's son is confused about more than his sexuality, far more. His first girlfriend accepts him and, more importantly, her own sexuality, with a maturity in no way undermined by a delightfully playful demeanor.
As in similar films, the viewer has to suspend reality when the doomed character accepts his fate with no mention of palliative, much less curative, medical intervention. His condition is never fully described but a quick, distant shot of murmuring doctors examining x-rays (x-rays? No MRIs, CAT scans or PET scans in a CA hospital?) brings home that the architectural model builder has hit a brick wall.
The cast is first-rate - everyone plays his/her role convincingly.
The message of the film is, of course, the enduring need for community. And this celluloid community is moving and loving. A truly fine film. (Yep, I cried into my popcorn.)