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Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stephen King is a big 'softie,' and 'Life of Chuck' showcases his joyful side
Mike Flanagan has gone to the movies with Stephen King twice in his life. When Flanagan adapted King's 'The Shining' sequel 'Doctor Sleep' in 2019, he screened it early for King in an empty Maine movie theater near the author's Bangor home and 'it was probably deeply uncomfortable for both of us,' Flanagan says. 'He happened to love the movie, but I was staring at him the whole time, just microanalyzing everything.' Years later, when the writer/director made a cinematic version of King's novella 'The Life of Chuck' (in theaters nationwide June 13), Flanagan just sent him an online screening link. 'He loved it. And then kept asking to see it again,' the filmmaker recalls. 'We kept refreshing Steve's link. By the sixth or seventh time, I'm like, 'He really loves this movie.'' Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox So much so that it led to the second time they watched a movie together, with a thousand other people for the "Chuck" premiere last year at Toronto International Film Festival. The buzzy film won the fest's prized audience award − a harbinger of Oscar consideration, considering that the past 12 winners all nabbed best picture nominations – and has earned critical acclaim (80% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). It's also the rare King movie that, instead of a nightmare scenario, is the life-affirming tale of a seemingly ordinary accountant (Tom Hiddleston). Flanagan kept the author's unconventional three-act structure, told in reverse chronological order, that features the end of the world, an impromptu dance sequence and Chuck's formative kid years. Usually, King's main characters are introduced having to deal with some sort of trauma, horror and/or supernatural clown. Our man Chuck comes alive one warm Thursday afternoon when the businessman hears a busking drummer. 'He puts his briefcase down and starts to move his hips to the beat of those drums,' Hiddleston says. 'And something remarkable happens and all of his interior joy explodes out of it.' The scene expresses 'something really profound,' the actor adds, 'which is that as we get older, perhaps our lives seem to reduce, but we still contain those infinite possibilities that we understood as children.' The dance is King's favorite: Flanagan reports that the author frequently revisits that bit during his "Chuck" viewings. At King's core, 'he's a softie that loves people,' adds Kate Siegel, Flanagan's wife, who plays Chuck's English teacher in the movie. 'He also loves to destroy you and kill off your favorite characters." Like many of the iconic author's Constant Readers, Flanagan has watched his share of bad Stephen King movies over the years. He freely admits that 2017's 'The Dark Tower' movie was one of them. (He's working on turning King's fantasy series into a TV show.) 'When I saw 'Dreamcatcher' opening day, I was like, 'What happened?' ' he says. A lot of filmmakers struggle to understand King's work, but Flanagan inherently gets it, as does Frank Darabont ('The Shawshank Redemption') and Rob Reiner ('Stand By Me'): 'He's not writing horror even when he is writing horror,' Flanagan says. 'He's an optimistic humanist and he's writing about love and humanity.' For example, 'Pet Sematary' is 'the scariest book I've ever read in my life,' Flanagan says. But 'if you're making a movie about zombies coming back reanimated by a cemetery, you're making the wrong movie. If you're making a movie about how a parent could never resist the chance to save their child, then you're making the right movie. 'What always leaps out to me is, what is he really talking about here? Because if you say 'The Shining' is about a haunted hotel, and you don't say 'The Shining' is about alcoholism, you've missed it.' King is 'someone with enormous courage in exploring corners of life that some of us might be too frightened to explore,' Hiddleston adds. But Flanagan smartly 'doesn't pigeonhole Stephen King. He sees King's breadth and range.' Of King's more than 60 novels – plus many short stories and novellas – Mark Hamill figures he's read at least 40. (Currently, he's deep into King's 'On Writing.') For the "Star Wars" icon, who plays Chuck's grandpa Albie, the magic of King's prose is in the language. 'It's not like adjusting to the way Charles Dickens writes, or Mark Twain. He speaks the way we speak,' Hamill says. 'You're comfortable in space and time and familiar with the characters. So when things do go wonky, he already has you in his grip." King's writing is "timeless," says "Chuck" castmate Karen Gillan. "We're all dealing with different things at different stages of life, but ultimately, he's exploring emotions that we can all connect to." When a new King book is released, Flanagan first digs in as a fan. 'He's always been such a visual writer that inevitably there's this imaginary movie that plays in your head when you read it,' he says. With 'Gerald's Game,' Flanagan had that movie in his head for more than a decade before making it for Netflix. 'Doctor Sleep' was 'this incredible puzzle box' where he had to weave together conflicting aspects of King's original 'Shining' narrative and Stanley Kubrick's classic movie, 'and it was nauseating every day to try to navigate it,' he says. And after being emotionally steamrolled by his first reading of King's "Chuck" novella – to the point of "tears on my cheeks" – Flanagan's mission was simple: "Don't mess it up. It's about taking that beautiful story and just getting it up on the screen." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Life of Chuck': New Stephen King movie digs into his humanity
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'The Life of Chuck' review: Soulful Stephen King movie is 2025's best so far
'The Life of Chuck' doesn't have any demonic clowns, killer pets or telekinetic kids. It's also, in its own way, the most amazing story Stephen King ever told, a brilliant novella that begins at the end of the world and winds up in a haunted attic. Fortunately, 'Chuck' (★★★★ out of four; rated R; in select theaters June 6, nationwide June 13) is made by a filmmaker who gets King like none other. Writer/director Mike Flanagan ('Doctor Sleep,' 'Gerald's Game') captures the uplifting and bittersweet qualities of King's prose and brings his own gift for character depth to the story of Charles Krantz, played by four talented thespians (including Tom Hiddleston). Flanagan, also to his credit, goes all in on the legendary author's unconventional storytelling, a lifetime that unfurls in three acts and in reverse. Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox The first centers not on Chuck but schoolteacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor). He's making his way through pointless parent-teacher conferences even as the end times have arrived – the internet's down, the world's falling apart, etc. – and people are dealing in whatever ways they can. Some walk around like zombies waiting for the sky to fall (literally or figuratively), and people go to jobs though there's nothing for them to do. What really weirds Marty out, though, is the strange billboards emblazoned '39 great years! Thanks Chuck!' and the image of Chuck at his desk with a cup of coffee. Marty reaches out to his nurse ex-wife Felicia (Karen Gillan), who's also at a loss about what the deal is with this Chuck guy, and they reconnect as everything grows dark around them. We finally meet the mysterious Chuck in the rousing second act, with a sequence straight out of 'La La Land.' Our man is an accountant skipping out on a day of work who winds up in a busy square and, inexplicably, begins to dance to the beat of a drumming busker. Chuck enlists the help of a young woman named Janice (Annalise Basso) and they enjoy a crowd cheering to the exhilaration of their samba- and swing-fueled moves. But the Capraesque third act is where the movie finally reveals itself, as Cody Flanagan, Benjamin Pajak and Jacob Tremblay play Chuck in various stages as a kid navigating joy, tragedy and a child-like understanding of a bigger picture. This part of the story also employs some smooth moves – including Michael Jackson's moonwalk – as well as some deeper thoughts courtesy of Chuck's lovably crusty grandpa Albie, played by Mark Hamill. Sure, he's forever Luke Skywalker, but Albie is just as much a role he was born to play. Narrated in folksy style by Nick Offerman, the movie features a deep bench of supporting actors, many from the regular troupe Flanagan has employed for movies and Netflix horror shows such as 'Midnight Mass.' Kate Siegel has a pivotal role as Chuck's English teacher, while Matthew Lillard and Carl Lumbly shine in small but poignant parts amid an impending apocalypse. All the Chucks are spot on as well: Hiddleston is a magnetic Everyman, even in limited screen time as the lead of the movie, and young Pajak notches a star-making turn opposite Hamill. Every member of the cast contributes in a small way to the collective beauty of the soulful film's themes, its exploration of humanity and grand existential questions. Who do you want by your side when it all ends? What happens if you choose practicality over creativity? Do you make the most of every moment of your life? It's a thought-provoking, big-hearted effort where you can see Chuck as one ordinary guy or a reflection of the multitudes contained within us all. Flanagan juggles a variety of moods and emotions throughout, so even if they seem disparate alone, they all make sense in context. There's impending doom, buoyant revelry, intimate drama, coming-of-age wonder and, yes, even some unnerving terror. (We are dealing with the author of "It" and "The Shining," so it can't all be puppies and rainbows.) If you want to go for the really scary stuff, there are plenty of other King movies for that. 'Chuck' instead is something truly special, a moving fantasy of a life well lived and no dance step left untaken. Based on the Stephen King novella, "The Life of Chuck" is in select theaters June 6 and nationwide June 13. The film is rated R by the Motion Picture Association "for language." This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Life of Chuck' review: Stephen King ponders meaning of life
Winnipeg Free Press
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
It's the end of the world but it's cosy
The Life of Chuck is an adaptation of a novella by Stephen King by writer-director Mike Flanagan, so one might expect a chiller-thriller of the order of their previous collaborations, such as Doctor Sleep or Gerald's Game. But despite an opening segment depicting a global apocalypse — and a supernatural component in the third act — this isn't a film built around horror beats. It marches to the thrum of a different drummer altogether. The Life of Chuck shoots for life-affirming inspiration, which is not unfamiliar territory for King, whose non-horror works include stories that have spawned the films Stand By Me and The Shawshank Redemption. One startling distinction is that this film is adventurously constructed around three seemingly disparate stories. In the first, the citizens of a community are rocked by events that signal the end of the world is at hand. The events, which include California breaking off into the Pacific, are of growing concern to small-town teacher Marty Anderson (Chewitel Ejiofor), who decides to help his community cope with the breakdown of society in a series of meetings that function as a combination of parent-teacher sessions crossed with psychotherapy. The circumstances present an opportunity for Marty to come to an understanding with his ex-wife, Felicia (Karen Gillan), even as both seek to understand the mysterious preponderance of billboards and TV ads sporting an image of a benign-looking accountant type, bearing the legend: 'Charles Krantz. 39 Great Years. Thanks Chuck.' Who is Charles Krantz? The inspired second segment tentatively answers that question with Tom Hiddleston's titular Chuck, indeed an accountant, visiting a town for a business conference. Neon Tom Hiddleston (right) plays the title character opposite Annalise Basso in the second of three separate tales that make up The Life of Chuck. Wandering the quaint streets, he happens upon busker Taylor (Taylor Gordon) literally trying to drum up some cash. Inspired, Charles approaches the freshly dumped Janice (Annalise Basso) and the two proceed to dance up a storm. Questions remain: Who is this guy? What does the film's first part have to do with its second? Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. All questions are answered in the third segment, in which we learn the life history of Chuck, starting with a tragedy that sees young Chuck (Jacob Tremblay) being raised by loving grandparents (Mark Hamill and Mia Sara) while navigating his way to adulthood, encompassing a love of dance and his granddad's sober admonition: 'People like dancers, but they need accountants.' This segment offers the key to the film's puzzle, in which a teacher explains a Walt Whitman poem to young Chuck, also quoted in the first act. In his other horror projects, such as the vampire series Midnight Mass, Flanagan demonstrated he is a filmmaker who should never be accused of sentimentality. He has a gift for portraying human frailty in a way that makes it all the more devastating when his characters meet terrible genre fates. Even without the supernatural hoohah, Flanagan's gift holds firm here. Stressing the humanistic, his film is ultimately a celebration of creativity, whether that takes the form of brazenly dancing in the street, or engaging in a secret creative process for an audience of one. Dan Anderson / Neon Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor, left) and his wife Felicia (Karen Gillan) are facing the end of the world. Randall KingReporter In a way, Randall King was born into the entertainment beat. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
USA Today
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Stephen King is a big 'softie,' and 'Life of Chuck' showcases his joyful side
Stephen King is a big 'softie,' and 'Life of Chuck' showcases his joyful side Show Caption Hide Caption Tom Hiddleston talks new Stephen King movie 'The Life of Chuck' Tom Hiddleston talks about the rewards and challenges of starring in the new Stephen King film 'The Life of Chuck.' Mike Flanagan has gone to the movies with Stephen King twice in his life. When Flanagan adapted King's 'The Shining' sequel 'Doctor Sleep' in 2019, he screened it early for King in an empty Maine movie theater near the author's Bangor home and 'it was probably deeply uncomfortable for both of us,' Flanagan says. 'He happened to love the movie, but I was staring at him the whole time, just microanalyzing everything.' Years later, when the writer/director made a cinematic version of King's novella 'The Life of Chuck' (in theaters nationwide June 13), Flanagan just sent him an online screening link. 'He loved it. And then kept asking to see it again,' the filmmaker recalls. 'We kept refreshing Steve's link. By the sixth or seventh time, I'm like, 'He really loves this movie.'' Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox So much so that it led to the second time they watched a movie together, with a thousand other people for the "Chuck" premiere last year at Toronto International Film Festival. The buzzy film won the fest's prized audience award − a harbinger of Oscar consideration, considering that the past 12 winners all nabbed best picture nominations – and has earned critical acclaim (80% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). It's also the rare King movie that, instead of a nightmare scenario, is the life-affirming tale of a seemingly ordinary accountant (Tom Hiddleston). Flanagan kept the author's unconventional three-act structure, told in reverse chronological order, that features the end of the world, an impromptu dance sequence and Chuck's formative kid years. 'The Life of Chuck': Tom Hiddleston headlines Stephen King movie Based on a Stephen King novella, "The Life of Chuck" chronicles the life of accountant Charles Krantz (Tom Hiddleston) in three acts told in reverse. Usually, King's main characters are introduced having to deal with some sort of trauma, horror and/or supernatural clown. Our man Chuck comes alive one warm Thursday afternoon when the businessman hears a busking drummer. 'He puts his briefcase down and starts to move his hips to the beat of those drums,' Hiddleston says. 'And something remarkable happens and all of his interior joy explodes out of it.' The scene expresses 'something really profound,' the actor adds, 'which is that as we get older, perhaps our lives seem to reduce, but we still contain those infinite possibilities that we understood as children.' The dance is King's favorite: Flanagan reports that the author frequently revisits that bit during his "Chuck" viewings. At King's core, 'he's a softie that loves people,' adds Kate Siegel, Flanagan's wife, who plays Chuck's English teacher in the movie. 'He also loves to destroy you and kill off your favorite characters." The key to making a Stephen King movie: It's all about humanity Like many of the iconic author's Constant Readers, Flanagan has watched his share of bad Stephen King movies over the years. He freely admits that 2017's 'The Dark Tower' movie was one of them. (He's working on turning King's fantasy series into a TV show.) 'When I saw 'Dreamcatcher' opening day, I was like, 'What happened?' ' he says. A lot of filmmakers struggle to understand King's work, but Flanagan inherently gets it, as does Frank Darabont ('The Shawshank Redemption') and Rob Reiner ('Stand By Me'): 'He's not writing horror even when he is writing horror,' Flanagan says. 'He's an optimistic humanist and he's writing about love and humanity.' For example, 'Pet Sematary' is 'the scariest book I've ever read in my life,' Flanagan says. But 'if you're making a movie about zombies coming back reanimated by a cemetery, you're making the wrong movie. If you're making a movie about how a parent could never resist the chance to save their child, then you're making the right movie. 'What always leaps out to me is, what is he really talking about here? Because if you say 'The Shining' is about a haunted hotel, and you don't say 'The Shining' is about alcoholism, you've missed it.' King is 'someone with enormous courage in exploring corners of life that some of us might be too frightened to explore,' Hiddleston adds. But Flanagan smartly 'doesn't pigeonhole Stephen King. He sees King's breadth and range.' 'The Life of Chuck' brings together two guys with big hearts Of King's more than 60 novels – plus many short stories and novellas – Mark Hamill figures he's read at least 40. (Currently, he's deep into King's 'On Writing.') For the "Star Wars" icon, who plays Chuck's grandpa Albie, the magic of King's prose is in the language. 'It's not like adjusting to the way Charles Dickens writes, or Mark Twain. He speaks the way we speak,' Hamill says. 'You're comfortable in space and time and familiar with the characters. So when things do go wonky, he already has you in his grip." King's writing is "timeless," says "Chuck" castmate Karen Gillan. "We're all dealing with different things at different stages of life, but ultimately, he's exploring emotions that we can all connect to." When a new King book is released, Flanagan first digs in as a fan. 'He's always been such a visual writer that inevitably there's this imaginary movie that plays in your head when you read it,' he says. With 'Gerald's Game,' Flanagan had that movie in his head for more than a decade before making it for Netflix. 'Doctor Sleep' was 'this incredible puzzle box' where he had to weave together conflicting aspects of King's original 'Shining' narrative and Stanley Kubrick's classic movie, 'and it was nauseating every day to try to navigate it,' he says. And after being emotionally steamrolled by his first reading of King's "Chuck" novella – to the point of "tears on my cheeks" – Flanagan's mission was simple: "Don't mess it up. It's about taking that beautiful story and just getting it up on the screen."
Geek Tyrant
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Mike Flanagan Rounds Out Cast for CARRIE: Kate Siegel, Katee Sackhoff, Heather Graham and More — GeekTyrant
Mike Flanagan's adaptation of Carrie for Amazon MGM Studios just got a serious talent boost. The horror filmmaker best known for The Haunting of Hill House , Midnight Mass , and Doctor Sleep has added 14 recurring guest stars to the eight-episode series, including both longtime collaborators and fresh additions to his growing horror ensemble. Among the returning Flanagan favorites are Kate Siegel, Michael Trucco, Rahul Kohli, and Katee Sackhoffall of whom appeared in projects such as The Fall of the House of Usher , Hush , and Midnight Mass . New to Flanagan's world this time around are Heather Graham ( Chosen Family ), Tim Bagley ( The Perfect Couple ), and Tahmoh Penikett ( The Madness ), alongside Mapuana Makia, Rowan Danielle, Naika Toussaint, Delainey Hayles, and Cassandra Naud. Character details are still under wraps, but we do know Summer Howell will star as Carrie White. Siena Agudong, Matthew Lillard, Samantha Sloyan, Amber Midthunder, Josie Totah, Joel Oulette, and others round out the cast. The new series will reimagine Stephen King's classic 1974 debut novel about a socially isolated teenage girl with emerging telekinetic powers. But Flanagan's version is taking a slightly different route. Following the death of her father, Carrie is thrust into the alien chaos of public high school and a scandal that fractures the community. Flanagan is writing, executive producing, and showrunning the series, while also stepping behind the camera to direct select episodes.
