Review of the documentary film Life Itself

     In 1999, the popular film critic and media personality Roger Ebert told his wife, Chaz, of something he had decided that became integral to his future life and character. This proclamation came shortly after the death of his contentious rival/colleague and dear friend, Gene Siskel. The latter man had suffered very privately from terminal brain cancer, which Ebert had been kept unaware of until the last possible moment. Ebert and his wife were planning on going to visit Siskel in the hospital on a Monday morning when he died the Saturday afternoon before. The surviving member of Siskel & Ebert & The Movies was devastated, not only by the loss of his friend, but also by the secrecy surrounding the terminal nature of Siskel's condition. 
     After a short while spent quietly processing, Ebert stated to Chaz that - if he ever fell ill in a similar fashion - he would never want to hide his condition, especially not from the people he loved. So a few years after his thyroid cancer diagnosis along with numerous surgeries and stays in the hospital and rehab, Ebert invited documentarian Steve James into his life to create a film to that built off his memoir by the same name. Steve James is the noted filmmaker of Hoop Dreams, which Ebert had declared was the greatest movie of the 1990s. Ebert's sincere and widely-heard accolades of that documentary helped launched it and its director into international fame and esteem. Despite this, the biographical film that emerges from James, with Ebert's enthusiastic cooperation, is not simply and purely exultation of the writer. It is true that James has great respect for Ebert and that shows throughout the film. This is most evident in how multi-layered the portrait of the man becomes as the director takes great swaths of time, life events, friend and family interviews, and moments with Ebert himself. There are passages narrated by the man's voice, which had been lost due to the invasive cancer surgeries, and they are handled with the grace of poetry. One can gather from the words why the writer has always been so well received. There are other pieces that are not always cheery - Ebert has been described as someone who was ostentatiously stubborn and petulant, as well as vain. James finds a lovely balance among the many sections of the man's life that he uses to to construct the film. The overall picture is that of a real man - and that is why Ebert would have approved. 
     Watching the man and his wife, Chaz, interact, one can view plainly how much the two complemented each other. And how much love lived between them. Ebert may have been pig-headed at times, but he truly enjoyed other people. The snippets of the film that give us other's stories and recollections of Ebert prove so interesting for this reason. A former producer or colleague may not have completely positive things to say about their interactions with the late writer, but each always has at least one glowing fragment to give. And as they add up, it is becomes clear that there is continual illustration of how he unquestionably impacted those who were around him. He was not a man that was easily forgotten as he moved in and out of other people's lives.  
     Roger Ebert loved movies so sincerely, and that was also abundantly clear throughout his life and those parts shown in the film. With the clout he gained from all his years and accolades as a writer and television personality, he pushed for the further accessibility of films. His writing about movies aimed for accessibility as well. As a young adolescent, I used to read Ebert's reviews with reverence and awe at his ability to compress so much information and so many lofty ideas about a particular film into such a tight, controlled space. He was a great writer. And a great champion of the movie industry - small and large. 
     His writing and every movie review he ever issued are collected at rogerebert.com. There one will find a diverse collection of new and old writers publishing reviews and op-ed pieces, that are in keeping with the spirit of the site's namesake. That is to say, they are all truly unique in voice and view. This site and the film, Life Itself, are lovely and lively tributes to a man's whose own voice will resonate long beyond the time of his passing. And in the memories of those who loved and honored his life.