Life Itself (2013)

In 2013, a bright light went out in the world. Someone who very early on inspired me to not only enjoy watching movies, but to be excited by them. Someone who taught me that nearly anyone could participate in film analysis and pass some amount of judgment (good or bad) about the films I watch. He was Roger Ebert.

I loved to see him spar with Richard Roeper in the early 2000's on movies as inconsequential as Death to Smoochy. Clearly, Ebert put his heart on his sleeve when it came to most films and it offended him the most when a film wasted his time. On the other hand, when he adored a film, his praise was simply poetic. He had a way with words, man.. and he knew a good film when he saw one. If Ebert said to go see it, I would usually follow suit. His criticism was astute, meaningful and 9 times out of ten, summed up what he just watched in the most precise way.

Life Itself honors him in the way he should've always been honored. Someone far beyond your average, pompous film critic. An average midwestern guy who loves a good flick, but smart enough to have received a Pulitzer Prize. Such a common man's film critic, he might as well have stood on a soapbox outside the theater he attended in Chicago to profess his feelings. Life Itself articulates the anger we all felt when he lost the ability to speak. We see Roger struggle to live any kind of peaceful life, having to constantly go to the hospital for physical therapy. Filmed just a few months prior to his death, it is difficult and angering to watch him suffer. One must wonder, had Roger been able to speak, what would he say? Had his life turned into one of those bad movies he's reviewed in his lifetime?

But what will never change from Ebert is his profound affect on the film industry and how fellow filmmakers revered him, even though he may have maligned their films when he felt it was necessary. There's really something to be said about that. Thumbs way, way up.