There is a thing called The Butterfly Effect, where one events causes a ripple in time that affects other events. There have even been three films with the same name based on that concept, but regardless, there are always the stories how people (even strangers) can affect your life. With “Life Itself,” creator of “This is Us” Dan Fogelman takes a look at this in a certain way.
Starring Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina), Olivia Wilde (TRON: Legacy), Annette Bening (American Beauty), Mandy Patinkin (Homeland), Jean Smart (Designing Women), Olivia Cooke (Ready Player One), Sergio Peris-Mencheta (Resident Evil: Afterlife), Laia Costa (Newness), Alex Monner (The Wild Ones), and Antonio Banderas (Desperado), this film takes place over five chapter where events of life affect a whole group of people from Will (Isaac) and his wife Abby (Wilde), who are expecting with their daughter, Dylan (Cooke) to Javier (Peris-Mencheta), his wife, Isabel (Costa), and their son Rodrigo (Monner) and their dealings with Javier’s boss, Mr. Saccione (Banderas).
Most everything basically takes place in Spain and New York City, and does so well. The acting is good, especially as this is an ensemble with real pros like Banderas, Isaac, and Bening. Outside of that, my favorite had to be Peris-Mencheta as a quiet and humble man with a good heart who has a tough situation.
There are some real emotional moments that made me think about marriage, life, and relationships in this film, but films like this have been done before with this one giving me the feeling of the “names and locations being changed to protect the innocent” in comparison to other films like “A Dog’s Purpose” and “Crash”. The other downside for me is that it was just too long, with some parts wanting to tug the heart strings that much more. I still did like the film and I will recommend it as a matinee showing in the theaters.