That's Life! (1986)

Truly Dreadful Film

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This is a movie about life! The title fits perfectly. The wife is doing her best (as most do) to keep things on an even keel, balancing home, and work while going through a scary medical crises, alone. She cannot tell her husband, because he is selfishly going through his own "age" crisis. He is a hypochondriac who refuses to believe there is nothing wrong with him, and he feels he is a failure in every part of his life. They have children who have lives and careers of their own, and are not very close personally. I get the feeling he was never close to his children, and his wife always had to run interference between him and them. I feel she would have liked to have had a much closer relationship with her children, but, with such a self centered husband, that was impossible. This movie is funny, sad, pathetic, and very,very realistic.

at first sigh, one of many home films, mixture of crisis, family problems, selfish characters and a strong pillar of family. in fact, one of splendid performances of Julie Andrews . that fact is the most important point in film. than, Jack Lemmon trying create a credible Harvey. his character is not bad but too common. the script gives a lot of clichés, the situations are not always credible, the line is too simple to not seems be boring. the third - a too large family and confusion as result. another good thing - presence of Robert Loggia who creates not a great but a nice role using, in smart manner, many of its possibilities.a film about family crisis , middle age and fears.short - a work who, at first sigh may be one of Hallmark movies. the difference - beautiful performance of Julie Andrews.

THAT'S LIFE! is a lovely family drama from 1986 directed by Blake Edwards centering on an affluent family man named Harvey Fairchild (Jack Lemmon)who goes through an emotional roller-coaster due to his approaching 60th birthday. He is so busy wallowing in self-pity and depression that he not even aware of the fact that his wife, Gillian (Julie Andrews) is facing a life-threatening illness. This barely-seen and highly underrated film was an unexpected delight with an intelligent screenplay, sensitive direction by Edwards and a 100-megawatt star performance by Jack Lemmon in the title role. The film wreaks of nepotism with Chris Lemmon playing their oldest son, Blake Edwards' daughter Jennifer and Andrews' daughter, Emma Waltoon also appearing as siblings in the family. There is even a cameo by Lemmon's real life spouse, Felicia Farr, as a fortune teller. The home of Blake Edwards and Julie Andrews is even utilized as the Fairchild family home in the film. Edwards, Andrews, and especially Lemmon fans should definitely give this one a look if they haven't seen it...a quiet, affecting drama that effectively blends the smile and the tear.

There are some movies you just get a good feeling about, and this (for me) is one of them. In every comment I've read here, though, no one mentioned the scene between Julie Andrews and Emma Walton, who are mother and daughter in real life and in the movie. Emma's character has just broken up with her boyfriend, and she spends the whole weekend in a bad mood until she finally breaks down crying and must be comforted by Julie's character. Lifetime channel, take note: sappy mother-daughter scenes work out best when you: 1-get real-life mother-daughter pairs and 2-let the mother (regardless of whether #1 is true or not) just speak from her heart. That's what Blake Edwards had enough sense to do, and it makes for one of the most touching mother-daughter scenes ever. Granted, Blake Edwards actually lived with these two people, so he may have had a better knowledge of their relationship and what would work, but most older actresses are mothers and could probably be capable of something similar. The rest of the film is great as well, with great performances all around, and a hilarious rambling from Jack at the beginning while he describes to Julie how his day at work went. This is the first movie that made my laugh and cry simultaniously (when Jack says he wanted to "bicycle himself to death"), and for that and the scene between Julie and Emma, watch this movie. It's way better than the box office will lead you to believe.