User reviews

Don't be surprised if you have never heard of "That's Life." It came and went quickly in 1988.

Jack Lemmon stars as a hypochondriac who is turning 60 and believes death is just around the corner. Of course nothing could be further from the truth. His wife is Julie Andrews as a singer who awaits the results of a test to see if she has cancer. But Lemmon is so wrapped up with his troubles his fails to realize his wife may be the one actually sick.

I know the description makes the film sound down and depressing. Nothing can be further from the truth!! As directed by Blake ("10," "Pink Panther") Edwards, the film is laced with comedy to relieve the tension for the audience as well as Julie Andrews.

This is a film for adults. It tackles real issues in real ways. The performances are all terrific and the mixture of comedy and drama are just right. It makes the film a qualified success.

... written and directed by Blake Edwards. Jack Lemmon stars as a man having a late mid-life crisis of sorts, while his stoic wife, played by Julie Andrews, waits for the results of a biopsy. The whole film takes place over one fraught weekend as their grown children come to visit for Lemmon's impending birthday celebration.

Jack Lemmon really grated on my nerves in this one, with all of his late-career mannerisms and vocal inflections ratcheted up to the top. Andrews is good in a thankless role, although I kept hoping she would kick Lemmon in the face. Upper-class malaise and fear of mortality are decent subjects better explored in other films. Lemmon himself even seems to be repeating his earlier turn in Save the Tiger, although this time with less restraint. There are a couple of humorous touches, but few enough to leave comedy off of the film's description.

This is the only Jack Lemmon movie I can think of that I have not enjoyed, and that is quite a feat.

This Blake Edwards movie is like all Blake Edwards movies. That means it's fairly lame, has no particular style by which to distinguish itself, and looks like it's been airbrushed.

This one revolves around some mid-life crisis topics afflicting a middle-aged couple played by Jack Lemmon and Julie Andrews. Andrews is diagnosed with a tumor and spends the film waiting for test results; Lemmon has the hots for Sally Kellerman (who wouldn't) and spends the movie dithering about it. Lemmon and Andrews are good actors, and they almost make the film worth watching, but only almost.

Grade: C

Many people dislike this film because of its melodramatic sentimentality, but I love it because Lemmon's performance is near perfect. I say this because as we see Harvey Fairchild suffer a mid life crisis, we see Jack Lemmon, the actor, suffer. This film was made in the years when Lemmon was going through problems of his own, with drinking and among other things. Lemmon captured numerous demons through the performance of Harvey, plus I think the film is good in general. Robert Loggia is another favorite of mine and he, along with his Oscar nod in the same year for "Jagged Edge," is simply wonderful as Harvey's friend and priest who drinks as people give their confessions. Sally Kellerman is also a delight.

Harvey Fairchild (Jack Lemmon) is a frustrated architect turning 60. His rich Malibu family is throwing him a birthday party. His singer wife Gillian (Julie Andrews) fears losing her voice. He is in deep depression and his doctor can find no physical ailment. He nearly has an affair with a client and is breaking down. His adult children arrive with issues of their own.

Director Blake Edwards decided to make a small movie with his family and friends. It's a personal affair. Jack is playing a version of Blake as the dysfunctional head of a dysfunctional family. It presents a lot of characters. It needs a better way to drive the narrative. Everybody is drifting around. It's fine that they are gathering to have this party for Harvey but it'd be nice if they are doing stuff to prepare for the party. It would require them to get rid of the servant and that may actually improve the family's appeal. It's an annoying aspect of the family. It's probably a real insight into their entitled lifestyle but it doesn't help to give them rooting interest. In a way, I both appreciate and hate getting a glimpse into their lives.

Loved this movie. Such similarities to real life. I served their family at a restaurant in Westwood;The Gardens on Glendon for years. To a person amongst the staff if asked would say they were our favorites. One night they were there w the kids and grand kids. It was a Birthday dinner. I was in charge of the table and when it was time to sing the b'day song, I made sure I was standing next to Ms Andrews. I can go to my grave saying I've sung w Julie Andrews.

So many oscar awards and nominations for the director and three leads! Jack lemmon, julie andrews, sally kellerman. Harvey and gillian are both having a rough week; he at work, where everything is going wrong, and he's turning sixty. She may or may not have a serious health issue. Their kids have their own set of problems, adding to the stress. Ups, downs. It's a journey. And is dad over-reacting? Our favorite stars, making a fun film. Its good! Directed by ms. Andrews' hubby, blake edwards. One of their many collaborations. And there are so many films called that's life.

"That's Life" is supposed to be a story about a man just on the other side of a middle age crisis on his way to a breakdown. It stars Jack Lemmon who plays middle aged men on their way to a breakdown better than anyone. Julie Andrews is his loving, supportive wife, who is going through a crisis of her own. Directed by Blake Edwards, I thought this movie had real potential and couldn't wait to get to the theatre to see it.

It turned out to be a painfully dull family reunion picture for the Lemmon's and Edwards'. Populated with many of the stars actual children, "That's Life" feels as though you are seeing some type of home movie. Thanks, but I'll stick with my own.

It's hard to feel compassion or sympathy with Harvey Fairchild (Lemmon), when he has a beautiful house, beautiful family that loves him, fancy suits, three martini lunches... you get the picture. But Harvey is helplessly self-centered. Oblivious to all going on around him. He cannot even be happy at the prospect of being a grandparent. Nor does he pick up the signals that his wife may be sick.

Watching Lemmon, I thought that his performance was a cross of "Days of Wine and Roses" and "Save the Tiger". It's all been done before. He is certainly not helped with a lame script by Edwards.

The only saving grace in this movie is Julie Andrews. Stoic, strong, and courageous in the face of her own problems, as well as having to be strong for Harvey. Her performance is the only well-rounded, realistic one in the film.

As for the other members of the Edwards and Lemmon families, the less said the better.

4 out of 10

While I appreciated the slice of life - pun intended - shown in the Blake Edwards drama That's Life!, I was disappointed on one aspect: Julie Andrews wasn't given much to do. The story could have been focused on her, since her conflict is extremely worrisome, but instead everyone's energy was sucked into Jack Lemmon's selfishness. If this were the first Jack Lemmon movie I'd ever seen, I'm not sure I'd be able to get over his despicable character and believe him in other, far more likable roles. Self-centered, negative, draining, critical, rude, and downright mean to those who love him - only to be sorry, cry, and feel sorry for himself later. Widely speculated to be a semi-autobiographical film (because both Julie's and Jack's children played their children on the screen, and it was filmed in the Edwards's Malibu home), I hope the rumors are merely that. If Blake Edwards had that many problems and took them out on his wife on a daily basis, poor Julie was terribly abused.

Julie's character is a famous singer worried about losing her voice. The start of the film shows her in a hospital room getting her throat scraped for a biopsy, and as she has decided not to tell anyone about her potential health problem, she's completely alone with her feelings. She and Jack go out to dinner that evening, and she's unable to eat. He notices her lack of appetite but doesn't notice her touching her throat constantly; his only reaction is that he hopes she isn't coming down with a cold so he doesn't catch it. She receives no sympathy, no attention, and continually pours herself into her husband and her adult children. As the screenplay is written, she doesn't actually have a character at all. She's just a bottle of glue, keeping everything together. Given the seriousness of her situation, the focus could (and should) have been about her, instead of tending to her husband's constant whining and spewing meanness. She certainly had the acting chops to handle a heavy health crisis, especially since it was a sensitive subject that would soon hit far too close to home.

That's Life! Contains good acting and a tough script that sheds a light on the inner turmoil of a successful man who damages those around him. It's no wonder his wife was having a throat problem, since she didn't feel like she had a voice in her marriage. You'll get to see sweet family connections, and some beautiful '80s fashions, but if you want Julie Andrews to get the spotlight, rent Duet for One.

Speaking as a Jack Lemmon fan I think this movie is one of his worst. Jack and Julie make a nice couple but aren't able to make this film work. I expected much more from a movie directed by Blake Edwards, music by Henry Mancini (the Pink Panther Series) and two very good actors Jack Lemmon and Julie Andrews.

Apart from the nice scenery, the entire movie is a failure. The plot is average, the characters are absolutely flat and Jack's constant swearing (which annoyed me so much I kept track), didn't give me the slightest feeling I was watching anything worthwhile.

Do yourself a favor and skip this movie, if you can!

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.

An interesting misfire. Director and co-writer Blake Edwards tries for an autobiographical touch in this family-laden drama, and was rightly accused of narcissism by the critics (who probably wouldn't have pounced so hard had the picture been made with a bit more flavor). 60-year-old architect in Southern California expounds on life's woes while his too-patient spouse deals privately with her own agonies. Although Jack Lemmon does get to spout off with some well-written (if familiar) tyrannies, and Julie Andrews is allowed to put in her much-needed two-cents near the finish, I felt Edwards' film was far removed from reality. It seems to exist in a poor-sports netherworld in which only the wealthy are unhappy. Perhaps it's time for Edwards to get away from the beach-front condos of Malibu and see how the other half lives. *1/2 from ****

Are there people somewhere who are entertained by watching middle-aged people whining about how tough their lives are? Such self-indulgence, with no humor to lighten things up. Well, none that I could detect, anyway. Unless you count the 80s hair worn by the younger family members. That amused me. Jack Lemmon comes across as a guy with a VW-sized bug. Julie Andrews tries her best but isn't actually given much to work with. If you can sit through that dinner scene, you're a better person than I am. I'd be shocked if this movie did even a million dollars worth of business before it got relegated to Superchannel in Canada, and whatever it's lousy-movie equivalent was in America.

Jack Lemmon took over this film with his manic way of talking and acting. Julie Andrews lacked charisma and was boring. I hated it so I never watched it all but what I did see was more than enough.

A little over 20 years before Blake Edwards wrote and directed this film, he wrote and directed "The Pink Panther" and its sequel, "A Shot in the Dark." Those were two great comedies with fantastic plots. They spurred a long-lasting phase that included a commercial splurge of Pink Panther stuff and that sprouted half a dozen more films - although none of those were on par with the first two. And, those first two films still generate much laughter among audiences more than half a century later. Indeed, they will likely bring laughter far into the future.

So, one knows that Edwards is capable of great comedy. Unfortunately, that talent or ability seemed to diminish even ahead of the phase out of the panther craze. But whatever made Edwards think that he could write and direct a comedy built around his home and family members, is beyond me. Even more flummoxing is the realization that Edwards actually thought that this story and film was a comedy. It is a drama, no doubt. But a comedy? No way! At least not to the bulk of people who might be called mainstream - which would be just about the entire population below the level of the rich and famous. And, I can't weigh in on how much members of that caste may regard this as comedy, not being one of them. If they think it's funny, one can imagine whence the source of the phrase, "the poor rich."

The two leads here are fantastic actors and Oscar and Golden Globe winners. Jack Lemmon is the best actor who ever lived for playing the part of whining, complaining, cynical characters. And, he does a great job at it in this film. The trouble is, his Harvey Fairchild is not even funny in the first instance, and very soon his whining and complaining grate on one - as other reviewers to date also have noted. The one very good role is that of Julie Andrews as his wife, Gillian. She portrays the solid, patient, kind, loving and sacrificial mother who can handle all of her family's problems and help them get through them.

Harvey is a self-centered, selfish, neurotic, despondent, complaining egotist. Not only is he not funny, he is unnerving and hard to stomach after the first few moments. There's also no comedy from Julie or anyone else in this snapshot of the wealthy Fairchild clan. There probably are few families in the 21st century that haven't been dysfunctional in some way or had dysfunctional members. But I don't know anyone in my family or otherwise who think such things are funny. Certainly none who would go to watch a movie about such.

There are other things in this film that give one the impression that maybe Edwards was out to try to get the ire of everyone, or most people. The considerable use of profanity, especially by Lemmon is very off-putting and totally unnecessary. That seems to be a trait or habit that Lemmon has in a number of films. One worders if he might think that profanity helps him convey something of a macho image that otherwise isn't there. This and other downers subtract further from this film. A boozing priest; seeming lackadaisical encounters and attitudes about sex that include infidelity; talk about and contemplation of suicide; and more negatives help sink "That's Life."

I didn't see this film in the theater -- and not many other people did either. It bombed at the box office, even with the cast accepting below standard pay. Edwards put his own money into the film as an independent venture. He lost more than $5 million from a box office gross of $4 million and a budget of $7 million. Since some of the Andrews and Edwards and Lemmon children and other family members had roles, one can figure that that's why Lemmon and Andrews would do the picture in the first place. And, judging from a couple other films in which Lemmon played excessively whining roles - not to great acclaim, or even modest recognition, it's not hard to imagine that he could fool himself into thinking his role and this film might be comical.

My three stars are just for the very good performance of Julie Andrews - and her putting up with the film in the first place. The cover of the DVD I obtained of this movie had a warning on it - "Suitable only for persons of 15 years and over." One could easily argue with its suitability for any group of people.

The only good line in the whole film is this one from Julia's Gillian Fairchild to her pregnant daughter, Megan. Gilliam, "Listen, pregnancy's the most important thing a woman does in her whole life, and you don't go to school for it, nobody tells you about it, you're not taught anything..." And, after she had her first child, she had two more, she says, "so you know it's gotta have a happy ending."

The part of Gillian, which Julie Andrews portrayed in "That's Life," gave me a queasy feeling: here was a character who was suffering from a possible career-threatening throat ailment. The film was made in 1986.

In real life, ten years later, Andrews would be experiencing a like situation, and two years thereafter awaiting results of a throat operation with parallel consequences.

This was not unlike a similar feeling I got when Elizabeth Taylor underwent her well-publicized brain operation in 1997. I vividly recalled her 1959 role of Catherine in "Suddenly Last Summer," in which the crux of that script was built around Catherine's receiving a brain operation.

As fine as both of those performances were, the art vs. life aspects were equally as impressive, and unnerving.

IMDB lists "That's Life!" as a comedy and a drama....though I saw very little funny about this Blake Edwards film. Instead, it's a character study of a VERY annoying and self-absorbed man...and his poor, long-suffering wife.

The film begins with Gillian (Julie Andrews) getting a biopsy for a suspcious growth in her throat. Not surprisingly, she's scared but instead of receiving love or support when she arrives home from the procedure, she's met with non-stop somatic complaints from her very neurotic and annoying husband, Harvey (Jack Lemmon). Whether she planned on telling Harvey or whether she is just waiting for the test results before saying more, you have no idea, as Harvey is losing his mind...obsessed with growing old and death....and 1001 somatic complaints.

Does any of this sound funny? Nope...not in the least. In fact, Lemmon's character is truly detestable and tiresome....and it's a good reason I wouldn't recommend this film to most people. Most, I say, because IF you know someone like the godawful Harvey, then perhaps they might benefit from watching the film.

There was some entertainment to be found and some amusing things happened.

The characters were not overly like-able.. They were just living the American Dream and forgetting to be thankful. Just shows that even the American Dream is hollow in the eternal perspective. I would say we are all the same boat; we forget to focus on the positive things and be thankful. It also really showed how having a good conscience is very important.

Certainly not a great movie, but amusing enough and I thought I learned something from the movie.

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.

Shot as it is at Blake and Julie's actual Malibu pad, complete with expensive art and ocean view, yet paying low wages to a non union crew, for which it was picketed by the cinematographers guild, this film is not an easy one to like. Indeed, if it were not for Ms. Andrews' usual fine work it would be well nigh unendurable. Basically, it's Nancy Meyers with a lobotomy as we spend a weekend with the affluent, creative yet fairly dull Fairchild Family all of whom, except Ms. Andrews, either over act or are holes in the screen. Chief among the over actors is Mr. Hambone himself, Jack Lemmon, to whom the director seems to have said on the first day of rehearsals, "Just do your usual schtick, Jack." Other, lesser hambones include Sally Kellerman as a (very) noisy neighbor, the director's daughter as Julie and Jack's weepy kid, and Lemmon's wife as a (very) loud fortune teller, the later two giving off a distinct nepotism vibe to go along with the odor of venality from the scab crew. Glad it lost money although, for the life of me, I don't know to whom it would appeal other than people who have just received a benign biopsy. Solid C.