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Lanie (Angelina Jolie), a rising Seattle TV news reporter, is a finalist for a plum job with a
top TV network in New York City. But first she must prove herself in the field. Wanting to help her, her boss pairs her up with Seattle's best cameraman, Pete (Edward Burns),
reviving an old love-hate history. During one of their reports, a homeless street prophet Jack (Tony Shalhoub) predicts three events, the last of which is that Lanie will die
within a week. When the first two and other subsequent predictions come true, the popular and self-sufficient Lanie re-evaluates her life and decides to make it more
meaningful as the days tick by toward her impending doom.
Life
has an
arresting theme about man's morality that could have been developed more fully, but together with too many side issues, the end result is an unfocused whole. Comic situations
are injected, like Lanie leading a pack of strikers in a lengthy boisterous rendition of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction." The film comes out as a mix of drama and comedy,
with a few touching romantic moments, plus the inevitable suspense of "will she or will she not die?" Viewers may find this entertaining, though at times confusing and
frustrating. The casting is adequate, but it is Jolie's solid acting with her dazzling personality and gorgeous blonde hair that definitely perks up the movie, and brightens
her every scene.
Viewers, especially the terminally-ill, will easily empathize and sympathize with Lanie, though
they may not all condone her system of handling predicaments. Being ambitious, she realizes the emptiness and pathos of her glamorous life, that there are more important
things to do before one goes. Commendable is Lanie visiting and sharing happy talk with her father whom she rarely sees. She also visits her sister who has envied her since
childhood because of their parents' obvious favoritism, with the hope of confiding her fears and reconciling with her, but she is brushed off, as always. Understandable is
Lanie spending a whole fun day like there's no tomorrow with Pete and his son. But seeking solace in alcohol, sex and the comfort of Pete's arms may not be the answer to her
problem. Spiritual direction may be wanting somewhere along the line. However, we cannot be judgmental about Lanie, for we can never tell how we shall struggle with our own
fears and anxieties, if and when we come so very close to death, predicted or otherwise.
(Date reviewed: July 5, 2002)
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