The Life of Chuck

Synopsis: At what seems like the beginning of the apocalypse, we examine a man’s life from beginning to present day.

The Life of Chuck is full of contradictions: depressing, yet life-affirming and sciencey, but also sentimental. You’ll have to keep track of multiple Chucks.

The Stephen King short story of the same name (from “If it Bleeds”) is adapted by director Mike Flanagan, creator of supernatural series including “The Haunting of Hill House “and “Midnight Mass.”

The movie begins at the end. The end of the world, that is. Worldwide, wildfires devour untold acres, floods sweep away whole towns, and California is crumpling into the sea. Worst of all? Spotty internet service.

In the mayhem, an American town’s residents soldier on. Marty (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a high school teacher struggling to hold his students’ attention. It’s American Lit v. The End of the World. Marty’s ex, Felicia (Karen Gillan), is a healthcare provider at the local hospital. She mostly sits dazedly in an empty lounge as her colleague pops in periodically to report the latest colleague who’s left the area. Ms. Gillan is an actor whose character Amy Pond on “Dr Who” is a veteran of surviving near catastrophes. Somehow, I felt that would give her character Felicia an edge in dodging the end of the world.

A few days into the story, Marty can’t get to work because of a sinkhole. He decides to make his way on foot to Felicia’s house a few neighborhoods away. Thankfully, he doesn’t get mired in quicksand in this new environmentally weaponized planet. Along the way Marty talks with a neighbor who brings us up-to-date on the shape of the apocalypse: agricultural regions ravaged by hail or something, everybody crowding into Nevada, etcetera.

Normally I avoid apocalypse-set series/movies because, well, the material is not exactly a break from reality. But Flanagan’s work is worth following, he has  a talented repertory of actors, and a promise of Tom Hiddleston, aka Loki, dancing.

Promotional material heavily featured Hiddleston as Chuck, the title character. And plenty of buzz about a spontaneous joyous dance that Chuck -looking like a typical office worker -performs on the street in the middle of the day. Fun? Yes, there will be about 5 minutes of fun in the 111 minute movie.

Chuck is a mystery. While the world is being riven, billboards and posters have been popping up all over Felicia and Marty’s town congratulating Chuck on 39 great years. Yeah, it would really suck to reach retirement age and then your party is shut down by the end times.

Marty & Felicia’s story is abruptly paused to get to Chuck. Chuck, an accountant, is at a conference in town about a year prior to the seeming end of the world. During a conference lunch break he strolls down the main street. Just prior to his appearance we’ve had a long voiceover about the drummer (Taylor Gordon) who is busking in town and the bookstore clerk (Annalise Basso) who has left her post in a huff.

Chuck has stopped in front of the drummer and can’t resist starting to dance. They start riffing off each other and a crowd gathers. He beckons to a woman (the bookstore clerk) to dance with him. Turns out she is a great dancer and they raise the figurative rafters.

I was struck by how sterile the downtown area looked and was sure it was filmed at a Hollywood backlot. But no. The production got permission from SAG-AFTRA to film during the 2023 strike. For some reason, they filmed in Alabama. The town of Foley is the location of the downtown. And Mobile shows up onscreen too as a generic American backdrop.

I can’t imagine that the actors were thrilled to be filming in Alabama. As for star Tom Hiddleston, he’s only in the film for about 15 minutes. I’m was probably like; Sure, I can show up for a week of filming for a million.

Much more time is spent with three other Chucks: kindergarten Chuck, elementary school Chuck and middle school Chuck. Chuck is raised by his nice grandparents, played by Mark Hamill and Mia Sara. His grandpa wants him to be an accountant one day, but his grandma encourages his love of dance. Btw, grandpa is kind of a boozer and his drinking may be linked to their Victorian house’s cupola. This is where things get pretty Stephen King-y. Remember what the author did with that car, Christine? Only heaven knows what is going on with the cupola. Grandpa keeps its door locked. Naturally, elementary, and middle school aged Chuck are curious and scared. I can bet that there is something spookier than old shoes and busted radios in there. Unless the shoes and radios are haunted.

So, we bump through Chuck’s life; happy Chuck at a school dance, scared Chuck at the locked cupola door. We’re also supposed to keep in mind the science lessons we’ve learned about stellar days and Carl Sagan’s “Cosmic Calendar” analogy.

The narrative isn’t all STEM. There is STEAM too. Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” keeps coming up. Marty had his students recite the poem in class. They could care less because 1) the world is ending* and 2) Gen Z kids, like younger millennials, have no patience for novels, but, additionally, poems are too long for them too. Try a meme or two.

So, yes, poetry and science and philosophy. And a handful of Tom Hiddleston scenes. Somehow the movie turns out to be less than the sum of its parts.

I just remembered that there was also a high school Chuck.

*Should’ve read the more topical “The Hollow Men” with its devastating line, This is the way the world ends/Not with a bang but with a whimper

P.S. Kate Siegel, a member of Flanagan’s rep group and his partner, appears as a teacher of young Chuck. When he asks what ‘I contain multitudes’ means in  “The Hollow Men” poem, she explains. Everything we experience in our lives-the people, places and events – lives within us.  As the years go by, we see how this concept plays out for Chuck.

Movie Loon’s Movie Review Shortcut:

Grade: C+

Cut to the Chase: Uneven tone and some clunky pacing, but thought provoking.

Humor Highlight: Mark Hamill as a careworn and mysterious grandfather. No trace of the young Luke Skywalker in Stephen King’s story.