Rating: 
Summary: Moxie
Review: "A Sense of Life" is a hagiography of Ayn Rand made by and for her admirers. To those who haven't drunk the Randian kool-aid (or did so when they were teenagers and have since felt the effects wear off) it will seem thin and simplistic. This is forgivable. Rand was an ideologue, so you expect a certain amount of simple-mindedness to trail in her wake, just as you'd expect, say, a documentary about the Berkley Free Speech Movement to have a naively rosy view of 1960s idealism. What's unforgivable is how dull "A Sense of Life" is.Clocking in at over two and a half hours, Paxton's movie is a slow crawl through Rand's biography. It consists mostly of narration over archival footage, interspersed with clips from admiring academics and sound bites from Rand's TV appearances, primarily a "Donahue" segment shot in 1980. The first of these is the worst. Narrator Sharon Gless's voice strikes a patronizing note of indignation whenever she describes something that Rand would have disapproved of, like editorial intrusiveness or the rise of the Bolsheviks. The academics are inoffensive, but since it's not exactly hard to get the gist of Rand's philosophy, also superfluous. Most prominent among them is professional acolyte Leonard Peikoff, who is billed in a subtitle as "Rand's intellectual heir," and it's fun to think about the cachet this toadying designation must have in certain bow-tied circles. It's also fun to note how, in a movie full of self-satisfied ideologues, Phil Donahue still comes off more fatuous than anyone else. But these are small delights. Overall, the pace of "Sense of Life" is slow and the details are numbing. When Paxton informs you that Rand and her husband had to move out of one of their apartments because the landlord didn't allow pets, you get the sense that the script could have stood a little tightening up. This is particularly a shame because Rand's life is fascinating, a classic immigrant's story full of high drama and historical sweep. Born in St. Petersburg in 1905, the young Rand experienced firsthand the misery of life in the early years of the Soviet Union. She came to the U.S. in the mid-1920s and made her way to L.A. While wandering around the Universal lot she caught the eye of Cecile B. De Mille, who cast her as an extra, a break that began her climb up the Hollywood ladder. That a key moment in Ayn Rand's life would seem to have been lifted straight out of a 1930s musical is entirely appropriate. Unlike native-born authors like Dorothy Parker or William Faulkner, who made literary names for themselves before they went slumming in Hollywood, Rand's first ambition was to be a screenwriter; the novels came later. There's a winning originality and lack of pretension in this career path. Ayn Rand claimed that she was born in Russia by mistake, and "A Sense of Life" is best when it explores Rand's American-ness: her ambition, her practicality, her love of tough guys and neon lit streets, and her unabashed embrace of Hollywood. Though Rand's enduring image is that of an imperious European intellectual, her rise was a quintessential American success story. The lady had moxie. But so did a lot of people back in the golden age of Hollywood, and when you look back on it, the work they produced was pretty corny too. "A Sense of Life" contains clips from an 1942 Italian adaptation of Rand's anti-Soviet novel "We the Living", and if you weren't paying attention you might think it was pro-Soviet propaganda, because the dialog is stiff and preachy in a way that is reminiscent of nothing so much as Socialist Realism. The tragedy of Ayn Rand is not that the quality of her work was outstripped by her personal charisma. (Which, judging from the interview clips, was considerable: imagine a prickly Russian Oprah). It's the way she attracted followers who adopted her black and white worldview but replaced her cranky iconoclasm with limp hero worship. (You can't help wondering how many of Rand's fawning admirers, had they been born in St. Petersburg in 1905, would have ended up penning odes to Lenin.) Limp hero worship is ultimately all this movie can manage. Ayn Rand wrote novels that were bloated and preachy but still weirdly compelling. All Michael Paxton can manage is two out of three.
Rating: 
Summary: For Young Minds Filled With Mush
Review: A film that young minds filled with mush will enjoy. Who are these young minds filled with mush? They are young people between the ages of 14 and 21, generally from a religious household (Christian, Jewish, Catholic, Hindu), who discover Ayn Rand and embrace her ideas as the answer to life. Worst of all, they mimic and blindly parrot all of her excesses. Objectivists remind me of college kids in the 70s and 80s who would read Karl Marx and become these annoying, reactionary left wing nuts. Ayn Rand is a Karl Marx for the right, giving rise to a kind of unthinking intellectualism frequently seen in cults. Typically, this documentary is uncritical of Rand and her hyprocrisies -- how she championed individualism but demanded conformity. Thankfully, young people who embrace Ayn Rand soon abandon her like their Marxist counterparts did so many years ago. But in the meantime, they can be the most annoying little critters known to man. Read and enjoy Ayn Rand for her pop message of individualism, but don't be as naive to be caught up in the objectivist clap-trap. I know, because I was once a part of the Nathaniel Branden Institute, a group which the documentary quickly skips over.
Rating: 
Summary: Worthy hymn to the greatest thinker ever
Review: A Sense of Life is for anyone who has an interest in philosophy, which, in its broadest sense, should be anyone who is alive! The documentary is very well made and, to my knowledge, also very factual.
Rating:
Summary: the eternal individualist
Review: A sweeping, brilliant documentary, this is the best biographical film I have ever seen, with a fascinating subject in Ayn Rand, whose life was as if it had been carved out of one of her epic books, and who lived in a span of time that was historical, with the Russian Revolution, 2 world wars, the Viet Nam era of unrest and ugly rebellion in America, and into the '80s, when she passed on in her seventy-seventh year.
Much like Rand's books, which can be read and re-read, always finding more to think about, this documentary can be repeatedly viewed, and one will always find something missed and something more to learn, because it is so packed with information and extraordinary footage.
The still photographs and archival film footage is astonishing in its quantity and quality, and as explained by filmmaker Michael Paxton in the 2nd Disc interview, were painstakingly chosen and added to the film; it is an endless collage of her life, narrated with extreme skill by Sharon Gless, whose pleasing voice is perfect for this long (143 minute) film.
Disc 2 has some excellent, insightful interviews, and an exquisitely b&w filmed version of Rand's play "Ideal", starring Janne Peters as screen goddess Kay Gonda. Total running time for Disc 2 is 118 minutes, making this DVD package not only intellectually and visually stimulating, but also giving the viewer a lot for their purchase price.
I find Ayn Rand's ideas some of the most interesting of this or any other era, and as a Christian I don't agree with some of her tenets, but find they challenge and sharpen my thoughts, and believe her to be one of the brightest and most unique literary lights the world has known.
This documentary is a must for those interested in reading her works, to fully appreciate the person behind them, or for those of us who are life-long readers, it is a joy to watch this overview of a well-lived life...and a masterful union of subject and filmmaker.
Rating:
Summary: FABULOUS - deservedly nominated for an oscar
Review: A very thorough, educational and entertaining biography of Ayn Rand. If you have never read her books, this movie will give a solid frame of reference and outline of her philosophy, "objectivism", which states that personal freedom is the foundation or "fountainhead" from which all societal improvements flow. If you believe in democracy and capitalism, Rand's books are a MUST read. Watching this video was the best 2+ hours I have spent in many years.
Rating:
Summary: Whatever's happened to Feminism here?
Review: All of the occupations and fields of endeavor to which Ayn Rand devoted her ideas and activities were and always have been dominated by men - and certainly not least the field of Philosophy. It might be seen as instructive that none of the reviews here, before this one, seem the least bit concerned that Ayn Rand, the screenwriter, novelist, and daringly self-appointed "philosophress," was "just a mere woman." If for no other reason, that thought alone should reenforce one's determination to see this documentary, at just about any price (under a hundred dollars, say).
Rating:
Summary: A magnificent achievement!
Review: Although seeing AR:ASOL on the big screen at a pre-release conference in Chicago was better, this DVD is awesome. The story of Rand is enticing, even to those who do not like her. The story was extremely well-written and the selection and handling of material was well done. I was pleasantly surprised to see the variety of materials which had been assembled for this Academy Award nominated documentary. After meeting the director, Michael Paxton, in person, I can see why he achieved such a great film. He is as amazing a person as the film itself is on the screen. Sitting to watch this film over and over with friends and family is an excellent use of one's time-- and time which will be enjoyed. I highly recommend this DVD to be part of any serious movie collection. I have the framed, preserved, autographed movie poster for this DVD hanging in my office behind my desk as the focal point of the room-- that's how much I love this film.
Rating:
Summary: A magnificent achievement!
Review: Although seeing AR:ASOL on the big screen at a pre-release conference in Chicago was better, this DVD is awesome. The story of Rand is enticing, even to those who do not like her. The story was extremely well-written and the selection and handling of material was well done. I was pleasantly surprised to see the variety of materials which had been assembled for this Academy Award nominated documentary. After meeting the director, Michael Paxton, in person, I can see why he achieved such a great film. He is as amazing a person as the film itself is on the screen. Sitting to watch this film over and over with friends and family is an excellent use of one's time-- and time which will be enjoyed. I highly recommend this DVD to be part of any serious movie collection. I have the framed, preserved, autographed movie poster for this DVD hanging in my office behind my desk as the focal point of the room-- that's how much I love this film.
Rating:
Summary: A Biography of an Immigrant and Heroine
Review: Ayn Rand is a very controversial figure, although her legacy was honored by her image on an American First Class Postage stamp. This video goes behind the heroic fiction she authored lacking a deep presentation of her philosophy of selfishness, what she later called, "Objectivism." It follows her life from modest beginnings in Russia, to how she met her husband, and all through the milestones and battles she encountered. Many have seen Miss Rand's work as trucculent or unrealistic, while others have completely changed their thinking entirely. The interviews and film footage humanize the woman that previously only existed to others as a leader of a philosophical/morality movement. What kind of music did she like, and why? What made her write with such passion and profoundly clarity? Why did she answer questions posed to her by first explaining the fallacy of reasoning that led to assumptions to ask the question? Miss Rand is truly a heroic woman with much to say on the subject. The video demonstrates that she may have been headstrong, but she never violated her principles of living for her self. The subtitle, "A Sense of Life" is a concept that Ayn Rand uses to describe a person's metaphysical view of man's role in the universe. In simpler terms, it is how man sees others around him and how he reacts to events that occur to him. His sense of life makes him cynical or trusting, brooding or joyous. "A Sense Of Life" depicts a gay (in the classic sense, joyous and optimistic) and serious student of philosophy, passionately devoted to articulating the right answers.
Rating:
Summary: It deserved an Academy Award, not just a nomination
Review: Ayn Rand may be the person about whom the most stupid things have been written, except for the whole class of people about whom only stupid things can be written. Numerous commentators have improvized themselves experts on her thought and proceeded to demolish it in what they were probably convinced was a very clever way. Numerous others, while proclaiming to be her genuine admirers, have tried to make her a virtual monster by blowing some aspects of her life and personality out of proportion, and projecting on her all sorts of morbid fantasies. *Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life*, on the other hand, maybe the most perceptive concise presentation of Rand's life and works ever made (and as no full-length treatment is available as yet, this is high praise indeed.) First, it is a first-rate documentary, rivalling with Ken Burns's widely acclaimed works. It is perfect in its structure, roughly following Ayn Rand's life and seamlessly integrating the more philosophical discussions with the biographical material. It is rich in period detail and source materials, from manuscripts and photos to period films, extracts from movie adaptations or theatrical productions of Rand's works, and highlights from her few TV appearances. And it abounds in perceptive interviews with individuals who knew Rand personally and who, for the most part, devoted their careers to studying her philosophy: mostly PhD's like John Ridpath, Harry Binswanger, Michael Berliner or, last but not least, Leonard Peikoff. But if Ken Burns had done a documentary on Rand, he would certainly have gotten the ideas wrong, as when he tried to paraphrase Thomas Jefferson's theory of individual rights in his biography of the Founding Father, and the whole sense of life of the work would have been totally off, with actors reading lines from Rand's writings in melancholy tones, as if they were about to drown themselves. So what Michael Paxton has accomplished is a miracle: he has combined the know-how of a Ken Burns with a flawless understanding of Objectivism and of Rand herself. All the fundamentals of her philosophy are presented, and I could not spot a single misrepresentation of them. All the stages of Rand's life are included, down to the small details which a less consciencious biographer might have missed, but which reveal so much about what she was as a person, such as her fondness for what she called her "tiddlywink music"-light-hearted popular music of the early twentieth century. The documentary even made me cry twice: when the actress impersonating Kay Gonda, in a short extract from Rand's 1934 play *Ideal*, said: "I can't forget the man on the rock" (whom we should all thank Rand for reminding us of); and when Rand testified for the HUAC and described the conditions she had experienced in Soviet Russia under Lenin. I had just watched a documentary on the 200,000 abandoned orphans who live off the streets in North Korea, and the whole families imprisoned and brutalized in concentration camps by the Communist government, and as Rand's words connected with the images I had seen, I understood what she was fighting against with what Leonard Peikoff called the concreteness of a truck speeding towards me. *Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life* also reveals surprising facets of Rand's life and personality. An atheist, she met her future husband on the set of De Mille's *The King of Kings*, where she worked as an extra, chanting hosannas to Jesus; and she "felt a benevolent inevitability that they would meet again". An arch-egoist, she admonished herself in her diary: "No thought whatever about yourself, only about your work." And an admirer of America's wealth and glamour, she found Los Angeles "overcrowded, vulgar, cheap and sad." *Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life* is perhaps the best place to start for anyone who wants to know more about this "American born on Russian soil" who may well have been the greatest woman who ever lived. For further biographical information, this film can be supplemented by David Harriman's edition of Rand's Journals, and Michael Berliner's edition of her Letters.
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