Rating: 
Summary: Richly engaging
Review: When I rented this movie, I wasn't expecting much. However, if I had set much higher hopes, they would have been fulfilled. I loved this movie.
It was painful and dark, but it was also full of hope, life-giving, and it truly reminded me what really matters in life.
I found the cast in "Life as a House" perfect for their parts; Hayden played the moody Sam so well, and somehow also managed to become the unimaginably altered young man with seemingly very little effort. The storyline was very believable: love can overcome anything.
There were grotesque parts of this movie, parts that some would prefer not to think about. However, they must be viewed in order to understand the complexity which makes this world up; none of the depressing, dark scenes were fiction.
My emotions changed remarkably during the time I spent watching this movie, and since I first rented it I went and purchased it, simply because I think it holds such potential to change the way people view the world, their lives, and those around them. It certainly had that power on me. I had never heard of it before I stumbled upon it at the movie store, but sometimes the movies praised the least are the best.
I would whole-heartedly recommend this touching, moving movie to anyone, regardless of their preferences for genre when choosing films to view. I truly believe it has something that will touch most people who are open enough to allow it to change their outlook, which is never an easy thing to do.Beautifully directed, wonderfully acted, and heartbreakingly poignant, this is a movie that should be on everyone's list of must-sees.
Rating: 
Summary: Uplifting, plausible, realistic and intelligent.
Review: When architect George Monroe (Kevin Kline) collapses in the street one day and is hospitalised, he is told he has only four months left to live; so George decides to use what time he has left trying to reconcile with his ex-wife Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas) and rebellious teenage son Sam (Hayden Christensen from STAR WARS EPISODE 2) whom he has neglected in the past.
George's final wish is to build his dream house; and wants to make the most of this opportunity to bond with his family and put right the wrongs. Could the metaphors in "building" be made any more obvious by writer Mark Andrus? Thankfully LIFE AS A HOUSE is one of those rare movies where the sentiment actually works in its favor.
The script is intelligent and plausible, helped all round by the strong cast especially Christensen, who is excellent. Directed by Irwin Winkler (THE NET) and inspired by Akira Kurosawa's IKIRU, LIFE AS A HOUSE also co-stars Mary Steenbergen as Colleen, an older woman who seduces Sam; Jenna Malone as Alyssa, Sam's "friend" who seduces George (Crikey! Some guys have all the luck!); Jamey Sheridan and Scott Bakula. Sound complicated? It ought to wind up the Morals Brigade so that's always a good thing. Also intelligent Hollywood movies are becoming scarcer than hen's teeth nowadays, LIFE AS A HOUSE is recommended viewing for people with brains (Or half a brain- like me! haha).
DVD extras include commentary by the Director, Producer and Writer; two featurettes "Character Building" and "From The Ground Up", deleted scenes, a press kit with general info and bios and the trailer.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting to watch in spite of many problems
Review: This is an interesting, thought provoking movie to watch in spite of its many problems that can destroy some of the "logical" pleasure of the movie, but indeed not the "emotional" pleasure.
Several things about the story are not totally comprehensible and many issues are glued together for the "Hollywood sake". First of all - the viewer or at least THIS viewer does not really understand what was SO bad in George's former life. George claims to have hated his work, working for 20 years in the same company and to have suffered all his life from living in an unwanted house. Although we understand that George "did not move up with times" and did not learn how to use the computer, his job as an architect seemed to me to have been quite creative (at least from the models he formed) and basically not one of the worst jobs. His house indeed was not as fancy as the other houses in the street, however is located in an astounding place on top of a cliff with a beautiful view and seemed to be just the right house for a person sick of the modern life abuses. The movie starts with George waking up in the morning, urinating to the ocean and to me that was just the "natural, free living" George seemed to want to achieve. Or maybe, the house was hated because it was so full of bad memories? maybe that is the answer.
The viewer is also unable to understand what made George neglect his growing beloved son. Is this the first time George notices the stress signs his son is throwing out to the world? What happened in the last 10 years? All these questions are not fully answered. The metaphor is supposed to be "You are what you live in" - which again seems incomprehensible to me. After all, to the end of the movie, George builds a beautiful house, but one that is as nouveu riche as all the other houses around - OK, maybe a prettier one...but still, a house that seems quite expensive. I guess we are supposed to appreciate that one has to follow his dream and to regret the fact that one (George) needs to wait to the end of their days to fulfill his dreams. Also, that building with your hands is always better then having something ready for you.... It is clear that a shock in one's life makes you realize what's important and too bad you did not see this before. Indeed all these messages do come through but they are somewhat shoved in your face...
Another serious problem is the producers need to squeeze all possible problems (and their solutions!) to one movie. We not only have a dying man building his house (achieved!) but also a divorce in the past, understanding your past mistakes, a history of a bad father son relationship with traumatic memories (solved!) and a drug problem (solved!). Many other reviewers have written about the "Hollywood" effect of the sex scenes. I thought the movie is quite Hollywoodish (did you notice how the problem with the neighbor is quickly solved?) but not because of the sex scenes. I actually thought that the sex scenes were only hinted. It is true that the movie deals with a lot of sexual issues but I am not going to close my eyes and pretend they do not exist in our world. Also, no body parts are shown and I felt that the bath scenes were quite innocent and dealt with the searching and getting to know teenage sex. George's relationship with his ex wife was very tender and heartbreaking. In spite of all I wrote above I did enjoy the viewing and the acting of the wonderful Kevin Kline and Kristin Scott-Thomas.
Rating:
Summary: don't judge a movie by its cover
Review: This movie was amazing. It truely touched my heart. A father, which i am not, forces his son to stay with him for the summer as he builds his dream house. The son, a rebel, refuses to work with his father. But very slowly the father grows on his son. The movie ends dramatically with an unexpected twist. Take my advice and watch this movie for it touched my heart and i know it will touch yours.
Rating:
Summary: Made me cry, but I loved it
Review: I watched this movie at work along with 20 mentally ill adults and 3 co workers, and we all agreed it was a sad, but profound movie that deals with life, death and love in ways that we could relate to. Refreshingly non Hollywood.
The actors perform so well, you forget that they are actors, and I am a cynical person at best!
I want my whole family to see this. It made em laugh, swoon and cry all in the course of a couple of hours. I'd recommend that you have company when you watch this, because you will be dying to share your thoughts with someone. It is also an excellent treatment video if you teach grief counseling classes.
Rating:
Summary: Have Tissues Ready
Review: That's right. This is one of those "tear jerker" movies, so have some tissues on-hand. This movie is a heart-warming story about love, and discovery it for those who you really loved all along. Hayden Christensen did absolutely brilliant and completely blew me away with his astounding performance and skills as a young actor. His character, Sam, struggles to find love throughout the movie and often rejects it when confronted with it. His denial, hate, and lack of caring towards life makes him miserable, and viewers of the movie take a journey along with Sam and his family of discovering himself and fixing his emotions. This movie really hits hard, it makes you think and it almost changes the way you look at life. It's a very deep film with an absolutely imperative and profound message; it's also very sad, as love can be sometimes; and it's definitely inspiring, the completed house is very symbolic of the effort that two people put in to not only build a house, but a loving relationship as well. Watch this movie and watch them build more than just a house, watch them build a life. Excellent movie!
Rating:
Summary: This is a great movie*!
Review: This is an excellent movie... all the way around*
Don't read what it's about... just watch it.
I rented it first...knowing nothing about it... loved it... bought the dvd... & have watched it many times since.
Now I'm a Kevin Kline fan too* (Never really noticed him till this one came out*)
Rating: 
Summary: Another great movie butchered
Review: I am so sick of good movies being ruined by sex and hollywood. I liked the whole theme of the movie of this messed up kid going to rebuild a house with his father (who divorced his mother) and actually started growing a relationship with him and showing compassion. The acting I thought was great. However, the producers screwed up the movie by adding in disguisting sex scenes between Sam's dad and Alyssa right after she was in the shower with Sam and then Alyssa's boyfriend turns around and sleeps with Alssya's mom. Where is morality in movies? Couldn't a producer possibly write a good movie without adding sex. It was definitely unwanted and not needed for the plot. Without such vulgarities, I would have given the movie either 4 or 5 stars
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: At first I was very uneasy about it being good. My friend and I saw it was on, and she said it was supposed to be good. So we watched it. Oh was it good, very excellent movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Moral low road
Review: I purchased this movie because of the wonderful reviews that I had read, and I will agree that while it was a great movie feel, none of the reviews I read mentioned there was an auto-erotic scene involving the teenage son,(which could lead to dangerous experiments by teenage viewers), there was more than one teenage shower scene, a sex scene between an adult woman and a teenage boy, and a homosexual scene where one boy pimps out the services of the son so he can earn money for drugs. It is too bad that such a wonderful movie was ruined by these overtly sexual scenes. This movie should not have been rated R. It has too much more soft porn,... It would be nice if the movie industry kept this kind of material for x-rated films. Don't buy this one, there's too much garbage to was through to get to the good stuff. I'm sincerely sorry I saw it.
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