Life Itself (2014)

Roger Ebert has probably been (and still is) one of the most well-known film critics in the world. Even though I rarely read his reviews on his blog, I do own two of his books. The way he writes is fantastic to read and usually there is something to learn from his vision on a movie when compared to others. With the many years of experience he has had that doesn’t come as a surprise. During his life he watched more than 10.000 movies (as the documentary states, but my guess it would be a lot more) and you notice his passion for them. In the US he was known to a wide audience thanks to the TV show he did with Gene Siskel, which turned their “thumbs up/down” into something iconic. Ebert received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received a Pulitzer prize for his work.

In 2002 he found out he had cancer. He had to live with it and the disease eventually cost him his lower jaw and his ability to speak and eat. Last year he died and this documentary, which borrows the title of his book with the same name, tries to show the man behind the film critic.

Filming began when Ebert was in the hospital and already had lost his ability to speak. That didn’t stop him at all, because internet and his blog had become his new voice and something he tried to perfection. A place where he wrote something each day. Director Steve James succeeds in showing who Ebert was, with an interesting personality. Not only through interviews with people who meant a lot to him (including his wife Chaz) or who he helped (Martin Scorcese is one example, but there are other directors too), but also by having parts of Ebert’s book read by a voice actor who sounds like him while showing archival material (pictures and fragments from his TV show).

The result is a portrait of Roger Ebert, including his dark side. It is clear from the film that he could be very difficult to work with (sometimes acting childish towards others) and that he struggled with an alcohol problem. During his disease he still remains stubborn during specific moments and it is his wife who is patient with him and tries to motivate him to continue. Not knowing a lot about Ebert myself I received a lot of details I didn’t know about. The film looks good and if you love writing about movies or enjoy great documentaries then Life Itself is one you shouldn’t miss.