Roger Ebert and I were both college newspaper editors. We both majored in journalism. We both fought weight ups and downs. We both loved movies. And we both wrote movie reviews. He is a little more famous for it than I am. This documentary tells his life story … and makes you cry.
Life Itself (Roger Ebert, Chaz Ebert) – Two “thumbs up” to this documentary about the life … and death … of Pulitzer Prize-winning movie reviewer Roger Ebert. Raw, candid, honest and tear-jerking, Life Itself is a biography of Ebert’s entire life from nerdy kid to college newspaper editor to part-time reporter to movie reviewer to egotistical movie maven.
Documentarian Steve James, whose films include Hoop Dreams, intersperses excerpts from Ebert’s autobiography with interviews with his long-time friends/journalists and his wife, Chaz, to create a compelling film about a person we all felt like we knew. Sure, there may have been better critics (Pauline Kael of The New Yorker is often cited) or more photogenic ones (Gene Siskel, Ebert’s long-time TV partner and daily Chicago rival), but Ebert may forever be America’s critic.
James hits his stride when dealing with Ebert’s relationship with Siskel, who died of a brain tumor without telling his partner until the very end. Interviews with Siskel’s wife and the producers of At The Movies provide deep insights into the pair’s complex relationship and eventual friendship.
But the most riveting part of the film comes as we see Ebert battle the cancer that eventually killed him. Multiple operations on his jaw and recurring infections should have killed him much sooner. But he faced this with an indomitable spirit and perseverance that most of us only wish we possessed. Left without speech and no jaw to speak of, Ebert used his mastery of language and the written word to continue his life’s work through his own blog.
At his side was his wife, Chaz (who he didn’t marry until he was 50), who had an impact on him that was noticeable in his writing and his demeanor. How she withstood the interviews as well as her husband’s ordeal proves that she may have been even braver than her famous husband.
With lots of clips from Ebert’s favorite movies and his own reviews as well as interviews with Martin Scorsese (who was one of the producers of the documentary) and other film critics, Life Itself teaches lessons about, well, life itself. Find a way to see this fine documentary.