Life as a House (4 stars)

Life as a House was another one of those movies I picked up because it featured an actor I liked in a performance that was "critically acclaimed. Kevin Kline has been a favorite of mine since the days of A Fish Called Wanda. He's been in a few of my guilty pleasure movies (Soapdish, Dave) as well. The movie also stars Hayden Christensen in the role that pretty much landed him his Star Wars gig.

The movie is about a divorced father of one, George, who works as a model builder for an architectural firm. He's laid off from his job because he's being fazed out by computer models. That day he collapses and ends up in the hospital where he finds out that he has a terminal case of cancer. Add to this the fact that his son is huffing (among other things) and looks to be throwing his life away. George decides that in order to fix the things in his life, he has to do what he's always wanted to; to build a house. He had inherited a shack on a small piece of land from his father, and had always wanted to build a new house of his own on it. It is through the building of the house that not just George's, but all of the people around him's lives change.

On "tissue scale" that some woman I know go by, this movie would probably get at least half a box. I even found my eyes tearing up at the end, which is somewhat unusual. I thought the movie was extremely well cast (even Hayden comes off really well, his temper tantrums fit this role so much better than Anakin Skywalker) and I've already recommended it to friends.