Straight-forward, enjoyable and emotional- that is the best way to describe “Life as a House”. “Life as a House” is a great movie to watch and not have to worry about sifting through confusing details. Hayden Christensen plays the part of a gothic teenage boy who is angry at the world, especially his parents who divorced ten years prior. He plans on going to a cabin for the summer with his friends to drink, do drugs and forget about life, but his plans come to a quick halt. His father, George (Kevin Kline), demands that Sam (Christensen) come to live with him and help him build a house. George feels that he and his son will grow closer by this experience and hopefully Sam will get out of his depressive mood and quit doing drugs.
At first Sam plans on leaving his father’s house after only one day. He decides to stay after Alyssa, the girl next door, comes of to talk to him. Little did Sam know, but this would be a very memorable summer in more than one way. As the summer continued Sam and his father grew closer and Sam also began to find happiness and a reason for living through his new relationship with Alyssa.
Just as things seemed to be going great, Sam’s father came clean with his motives. George only had a few months to live and he wanted to build a relationship and a house with his son during their last few months together.
Sam takes the news baldy and refuses to talk to his father for a few days. Alyssa tells Sam that he should spend what little time he has left with his father. Through the use of camera close-ups and music viewers can feel what the characters are going through.
A few more tangles in the plot help to fuel the emotion. A mother and father reunite and a tragedy from the past is brought forward. Viewers find themselves on the edge of their seats after the movie starts rolling. It has a slow start, but a great payoff at the end. It is hard to keep emotions hidden during this film. “Life as a House” can come to mean many things.
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