Rating: 
Summary: Funny, sad, theraputic and definitely not a stunt!
Review: ...Blake Edwards had been experimenting with ad-lib scenes for many years, ever since his early films with Peter Sellers. The famous watch synchonization scene in "A Shot In The Dark" for example - not in the script. But this was booked as an improvised movie. Kind of. The scenes were discussed by all involved. Between Edwards, Andrews and Lemmon there were some 100 years of film experience brought to bear. The story is very believable, even if the characters are in another world from our own, we can still identify. Gil's patient, suffering, worrying about a real health problem while her husband takes the center stage ("That's the worse case I've ever seen"). The only neurosis here is in Lemmon's character, and contrasted with Gil's real life problem, is the nexus of the story. So just watch it. If you liked any of Edwards's earlier films like "10" or "The Party", you really will not notice anything unusual. It has all of his hallmarks, very funny and sad at the same time. Sally Kellerman and Robert Loggia are very effective in ther supporting roles and Tony Bennett's vocal of "Life In A Looking Glass" (Mancini/Bricusse) is heart-breaking at the end.
Rating: 
Summary: Will the real Julie Andrews stand up?
Review: Being a Julie fan, I wanted to start collecting some of her movies. This one I didn't have. Upon watching it, I found myself Fast-Forwarding through most of it because of the language (her husband). The movie has a wonderful story behind it but it really bothered me when I heard Julie spoke some language herself in one part of the movie. Definitely not a family movie.
Rating:
Summary: Will the real Julie Andrews stand up?
Review: Being a Julie fan, I wanted to start collecting some of her movies. This one I didn't have. Upon watching it, I found myself Fast-Forwarding through most of it because of the language (her husband). The movie has a wonderful story behind it but it really bothered me when I heard Julie spoke some language herself in one part of the movie. Definitely not a family movie.
Rating:
Summary: a good movie with some faults
Review: Consider that you just found out that you may have terminal cancer. You won't know for sure for a couple of days so you keep it to yourself so as not to worry your loved ones. The problem is that your loved ones take up those two days with endless complaints about their own lives. That, in a nutshell, is what "That's Life" is all about. It's an interesting movie primarily because of the non-stop monologue of Jack Lemmon. He is almost maniacal at times with his compulsive self-examination and fear of aging. At times it gets overdone: We get the point. The adult children have come home to help Mr. Lemmon celebrate his 60th birthday. They all seem to have their own disfunctions and Dad, in his self-pity, was no help. Thus the mother, excellently played by Julie Andrews, has her hands full. The problems with this movie center around its' excessiveness. As I mentioned above; we get the point. I realize that Blake Edwards has a good reputation for comedy and I think that there is good comedy in this movie. However, the drama seems to suffer for having too much comedy. The character of the priest, for example, is woefully made to look silly. Other characters seem to be too eccentric. If this is supposed to be a comedy then let me change my rating to two stars. The beauty of this movie is watching someone facing death while burdened by everyone's lesser concerns. The movie loses that focus periodically to its own detriment. I checked for Oscar nominations for "That's Life" because I wondered if Andrews or Lemmon were nominated. They seemed good enough to be. However, the only nomination was for this awful song at the end. I can't believe that Tony Bennett agreed to sing it. Oh well, the team of Blake Edwards and Henry Mancini requires at least one nomination per collaberation. But boy did they pick the wrong category here!
Rating:
Summary: that's life
Review: I found it to be close to reality in regard to how we tend to be self centered in most of our daily interaction with family. It was funny and at the same time sad. I liked the fact that actual family members were included. Would like to find the video to vew it again. The two main characters are worth watching in whatever they appear.
Rating: 
Summary: Is that REALLY life?
Review: I gather Blake Edwards set out to make a "small movie" here. He enlisted his real-life wife, daughter and step-daughter, brought old buddy (and star of his classic "Days of Wine and Roses") Jack Lemmon aboard and provided parts for Lemmon's wife (Felicia Farr) and son. Farr, it may be said, lucks out if anyone does--she doesn't play one of the neurotic family members--although it appears that she has a several little problems of her own. Does it work at all? Well, the first time I saw this movie, I HATED it. Since Lemmon's death last summer, I have been sort of running my own little "Jack Lemmon film festival" whenver I think of it, and upon re-view, it's not half bad. Seeing Lemmon's character wrestle with his mortality strikes me as poignant now after the actor's actual death. Equally eerie in its way, is seeing Julie Andrews character, a professional singer, struggling with potentially devestating vocal problems--and in her own stoic way, her own mortality. The improvisational storyline is the real problem with this film, however. It's rather undeveloped. Lemmon typically needs a broader canvas than Edwards provides him here. He is intense here as in "Days..." but to lesser effect. He's all wound up with no place special to go. We've seen Lemmon do this kind of shtick before ("Tribute" comes to mind), and like Julie Andrews' Gillian in this movie, we feel like telling him to snap out of it--or we're leaving!
Rating:
Summary: Touch of Life
Review: I gather Blake Edwards set out to make a "small movie" here. He enlisted his real-life wife, daughter and step-daughter, brought old buddy (and star of his classic "Days of Wine and Roses") Jack Lemmon aboard and provided parts for Lemmon's wife (Felicia Farr) and son. Farr, it may be said, lucks out if anyone does--she doesn't play one of the neurotic family members--although it appears that she has a several little problems of her own. Does it work at all? Well, the first time I saw this movie, I HATED it. Since Lemmon's death last summer, I have been sort of running my own little "Jack Lemmon film festival" whenver I think of it, and upon re-view, it's not half bad. Seeing Lemmon's character wrestle with his mortality strikes me as poignant now after the actor's actual death. Equally eerie in its way, is seeing Julie Andrews character, a professional singer, struggling with potentially devestating vocal problems--and in her own stoic way, her own mortality. The improvisational storyline is the real problem with this film, however. It's rather undeveloped. Lemmon typically needs a broader canvas than Edwards provides him here. He is intense here as in "Days..." but to lesser effect. He's all wound up with no place special to go. We've seen Lemmon do this kind of shtick before ("Tribute" comes to mind), and like Julie Andrews' Gillian in this movie, we feel like telling him to snap out of it--or we're leaving!
Rating:
Summary: Is that REALLY life?
Review: I gather Blake Edwards set out to make a "small movie" here. He enlisted his real-life wife, daughter and step-daughter, brought old buddy (and star of his classic "Days of Wine and Roses") Jack Lemmon aboard and provided parts for Lemmon's wife (Felicia Farr) and son. Farr, it may be said, lucks out if anyone does--she doesn't play one of the neurotic family members--although it appears that she has a several little problems of her own. Does it work at all? Well, the first time I saw this movie, I HATED it. Since Lemmon's death last summer, I have been sort of running my own little "Jack Lemmon film festival" whenver I think of it, and upon re-view, it's not half bad. Seeing Lemmon's character wrestle with his mortality strikes me as poignant now after the actor's actual death. Equally eerie in its way, is seeing Julie Andrews character, a professional singer, struggling with potentially devestating vocal problems--and in her own stoic way, her own mortality. The improvisational storyline is the real problem with this film, however. It's rather undeveloped. Lemmon typically needs a broader canvas than Edwards provides him here. He is intense here as in "Days..." but to lesser effect. He's all wound up with no place special to go. We've seen Lemmon do this kind of shtick before ("Tribute" comes to mind), and like Julie Andrews' Gillian in this movie, we feel like telling him to snap out of it--or we're leaving!
Rating: 
Summary: A pan and scan disaster!
Review: If ever there was a movie director in Hollywood who knew how to use the "scope" aspect ratio to perfection, it's Blake Edwards! So when Pioneer/Artisan decided to release this very interesting film in pan and scan format only, they managed to ruin it completely! Every single camera setup clearly tells me that this was not the vision of Mr. Edwards and his camera crew, so why bother to watch? As far as I'm concerned, I find this DVD defective, and - thankfully - that is also the opinion of my dealer. A big boo to Pioneer and Artisan!
Rating:
Summary: don't pay attention to the critics
Review: Jack Lemmon (Harvey Fairchild)and Julie Andrews (Gillian)shine in this story of a husband unwilling to accept the age of 60 and a wife dealing with a potentially terminal illness. The film explores a very happy family with the kids all grown up and now have their own problems. Jack Lemmon was perfectly cast as the hyperchondriac husband and Julie Andrews is just as good as the loving but somewhat reserved wife. Critics complained about the use of improvisation and a flat story. Nothing could be further from the truth. You see some of the wacky things people do at the spur of the moment,(Harvey goes to a fortune teller), and the true frustration with getting older. Blake Edwards assembled a fine cast of real-life family and friends. Robert Loggia and Sally Kellerman add to the supporting cast as do Lemmon's son Chris, Edward's daugher Jennifer, and Andrew's daugher Emma. "That's Life" may not be the most outstanding Blake Edwards film, but watch it anyway.
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