Picture: Netflix
Based on the novel of the identical identify from Lori Nelson Spielman, The Life List is the newest Netflix challenge from the platform’s frequent performer Sofia Carson, who has now starred in 5 Netflix Original Films during the last 5 years.
Leaving her former teen Disney villain previous behind, Carson starred within the dance competitors dramedy Feel The Beat in 2020, voiced a charismatic and courageous pony in My Little Pony: A New Generation in 2021, acted and sang within the military-centric drama Purple Hearts in 2022, & put within the crosshairs of a home terrorist within the airport crime thriller Carry-On launched just a few months in the past.
This time round, Carson dives again right into a extra critical drama of kinds as Alex Rose, a younger girl perceived by others as being misplaced following a giant change from her extra impassioned profession as a instructor to working for her mom’s cosmetics firm. Adding to her listlessness, Alex discovers that her mom’s most cancers has returned, and he or she gained’t be going via therapy.
With a better & stronger bond to her mom than her different siblings, she takes her eventual passing very exhausting. However, that bond and maternal steering would proceed as Alex is given a somewhat distinctive stipulation to her inheritance: as a substitute of staying on and working her mom’s firm, she is let go of her place and despatched on a quest to get her life again on observe.
Alex should comply with and full her “Life List” that she created when she was 13 years previous. With duties starting from attempting stand-up comedy to discovering real love, she should full all the pieces on the listing over the following 12 months in an effort to obtain her ultimate messages from her mom and the actual inheritance left within the will.
THE LIFE LIST. (L to R) Sofia Carson as Alex and Kyle Allen as Brad in The Life List. Cr. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix © 2024.
Alongside Carson, the forged has some acquainted names: longtime TV icon Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights, Nashville, The West Wing”) as Alex’s mom Elizabeth, Kyle Allen (The Map of Tiny Perfect Things) as household lawyer Brad, Sebastian De Souza (Fair Play) as Alex’s co-worker turned romantic curiosity Garrett, & Jośe Zúñiga (Twilight, Griselda) as Alex’s father Samuel.
But, make no mistake, that is Sofia Carson’s film for higher or for worse. I’ve additionally seen each little bit of Sofia Carson’s (live-action) Netflix profession for higher or for worse. It’s exhausting to place my finger on it precisely, however there’s something both in her character/movie decisions or her specific ability set as an actress that largely appear at odds previously few years.
When I reviewed Purple Hearts for this website years in the past, I remarked that Carson lacked “emotional depth and bothers herself more with being angry & dour … than developing a range that would be warranted to handle the myriad of emotional fallouts …” With The Life List, I hoped for a construct on her Purple Hearts efficiency because it delves again into the identical dramatic register blended with difficult romance, particularly after being happy together with her supporting position in final 12 months’s crime thriller Carry-On.
However, her efficiency as Alex is solely extra of the identical with a script that, very like Purple Hearts, doesn’t do her a ton of favors with its inconsistent tone, forgettable supporting characters, & a number of cringey moments (I’m observing you, Comedy Club open mic) that don’t go well with her as an actress/singer or add something to the movie itself.
The story struggles to assemble a base narrative for Alex; a personality who, whereas presumably misplaced with out ardour for her present life decisions, doesn’t appear to have these passions entrance and middle because the purpose during which to get again … or not less than not those centered round a person.
The “Life List” is a method to inform you who she is as an individual and who she aspires to be; nevertheless, numerous the listing is meaningless and doesn’t appear to go well with her persona. Learning a music on piano as a result of her mother informed her to, doing standup comedy when she is clearly not humorous (and even that enjoyable more often than not), getting a tattoo, studying to drive (she clearly didn’t do that a lot in any respect), & studying Moby Dick are simply a number of the examples of the nonsensical fluff that fills a film that appears to overstay its welcome.
A journey of self-discovery turns largely right into a plodding & predictable story of how she discovered love. Her instructing profession is a laughable aspect challenge that will get barely any backstory as to why she modified professions within the first place or why it appeared to go well with her even when she was a younger teen. Her household points are too massive and counterproductive to one of many solely issues that appear to work on this film: her relationship together with her mom and the messages she leaves behind.
Picture: Netflix
The uncommon moments of watchability are these between Alex & her mom and Alex & Brad; moments of real reflection, life philosophy, & deeper human connection. The DVDs, regardless of how foolish or contrived, give the viewers the sentiment and tear up scenes that one of these tales ought to crave. Connie Britton is a standout; regardless of how a lot of the movie goes astray from the connection between Alex & her mom, she all the time brings it again – together with the final DVD the place “past” Alex walks in for presumably the most effective scene within the movie. As for Alex & Brad, it’s a typical rocky begin that thaws over time till it blooms, but it surely’s additionally the one time somebody appears to be comfortable to be there and current within the movie. While most issues on this movie ring so false, these relationships are those that make something within the movie really feel grounded and gratifying.
Overall, The Life List might fulfill followers of Sofia Carson’s previous work, however the movie’s drawn-out, contrived, & largely unearned conclusions shouldn’t work for extra discerning romantic drama fanatics. My want for extra emotional complexity & likability from Carson, following the recognition of Purple Hearts, appeared an excessive amount of to hope for, as she appears to have hit a ceiling as a dramatic lead.
Don’t let author/director Adam Brooks’ previous CV (Definitely, Maybe; Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason; Wimbledon) make you consider in an elevated romance right here. Connie Britton & Kyle Allen attempt to make the over 2 hour runtime worthwhile, however extraneous subplots, forgettable supporting characters, & cringey moments of “humor” make this one a skip on the watchlist.
Watch The Life List If You Liked
- Endings
- Beginnings
- The Bucket List
- Purple Hearts
- Definitely, Maybe
- Feel The Beat
MVP of The Life List
Connie Britton as Alex’s mom Elizabeth
Picture: Netflix
Britton has proved time and time once more over her profession that she will be able to hit the emotional residence runs when it counts, particularly in a extra maternal position. Her efficiency as Alex’s mom Elizabeth is as near one thing that works within the movie and it couldn’t have been simple. Seemingly working off of nothing however a digicam, Britton nonetheless delivers sufficient dramatic punch and heat to get the viewer to offer in to the extra loving & tender scenes within the movie’s ultimate moments.
I’m all the time recreation for a journey of self-discovery, however The Life List wastes most of its 2 hour runtime with joyless detours away from the mother-daughter relationship drama that might have labored by itself. Carson nonetheless hasn’t proved she could be the emotional focus of a film that works.