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."
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."