Life Itself is the affectionate but not worshipful documentary on movie critic Roger Ebert’s groundbreaking career, courageous battle against disease and uncommonly graceful death. Ebert popularized movie criticism and evangelized for the lesser known foreign films, documentaries and indies that I love. In a 2002 cancer treatment, Ebert lost his lower jaw and, with it, his ability to talk or eat. Astonishingly, this didn’t slow him down; he replaced his television show with a pioneering blog and Twitter account – and remained just as productive and influential as ever.
Filmmaker Steve James set out to make a movie of Ebert’s memoir of the same name, but – just as the project started – Ebert’s cancer returned. So the story includes Ebert’s final illness and death. Ebert retained the joy in his life far longer than could most in his situation – it’s a marvel and a model for the rest of us.
James is one of the deserving filmmakers whose art was boosted by Ebert, who picked James’ obscure documentary Hoop Dreams as the best film of the year. Ebert similarly helped directors from Spike Lee in the 1980s to Raman Bahrani in the 2000s. In Life Itself, Errol Morris says that he would have had no career without Ebert and Siskel, and Martin Scorsese says that they saved his career.
But the primary theme of Life Itself is truth. In his work, Ebert demanded truth from himself and from the cinema that he reviewed. In this film, Ebert insisted on showing the person he was at the end – with his infirmities on full display. There are moments of frustration where he is not so lovable and stories about his personal flaws. We are all packages of virtues and weaknesses; seeing Roger’s weaknesses just adds credibility to his strengths and accomplishments.
Life Itself is a Must See for fans of Roger Ebert and for people musing on their own mortality. People with less of an interest in Ebert may find the movie a little too long. But the human story of a life – challenged and then ending – is very strong.