Roger Ebert loved movies. Through that shared connection, I, by extension, love Roger Ebert and his reviews. This documentary covers his love (or more famously, his occasional ‘hate’) for cinema and much more in journaling the life of arguably the world’s most famous film critic. Most people would’ve heard of the ‘two-thumbs-up’/‘thumbs-up, thumbs-down’ ratings from the TV show Siskel and Ebert, or that iconic line ‘I hated, hated, hated this movie’ that would later serve as a title for a collection of Ebert’s essays and reviews of films he (rather strongly) disliked, or that Ebert was the first person to win the Pulitzer Prize for film criticism. But I imagine most casual readers of film criticism, of which the numbers are unfortunately dwindling, are perhaps unaware of the life of Ebert beyond, before, and after Siskel and Ebert and his effect on writing about film and upon the industry. This film details that wonderfully.
Filmed during Ebert’s last living weeks, documentarian Steve James (director of the great Hoop Dreams) interviews the family, friends, and colleagues of Roger Ebert, including various film directors impacted by his criticism and friendship, and, of course, the man himself. The documentary details Ebert’s 40+-year-long career of criticism, focusing on his early life as the editor for his university paper, recovery from alcoholism, appointment as the daily film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, prolific career, famous collaboration with Gene Siskel, his championing of new filmmakers, marriage to his wife, and his long battle with cancer, which caused him to lose his ability to speak. As Werner Herzog talks about, the famous TV critic losing his voice seems detrimental, but for Ebert, it gave him more cause to carry on writing, pushing back against the physical setbacks presented to him.
Alongside Ebert is his wife, Chaz, herself a successful businesswoman and writer, who fights with Ebert whenever she can during his almost decade-long battle with cancer. A touching element of the film is the partial focus on their marriage in 1992 and their strong relationship following that. Also heavily featured are various film critics who pay tribute to the genius of Ebert, and even further, many filmmakers themselves, who had their careers boosted by the appraisal of Ebert in his writings. Such faces include Ramin Bahrani (director of Chop Shop, Man Push Cart, and White Tiger), Ava Duvernay (director of 13th, When They See Us, and Selma), and, of course, Martin Scorsese (his films I’m sure need no name-dropping for you to recognise the director). These various directors discuss at length the support of Ebert and the positive impact he had in highlighting what were, at the time, underseen movies and, therefore, under-represented voices.
Life Itself brilliantly illustrates the fantastic work and life of Roger Ebert and serves at least as a heartfelt dedication to the man and at most as a holistic overview of the career and impact of one of the world’s greatest film critics, which really means one of the world’s greatest writers. If you like Ebert’s reviews, or any of the films/filmmakers mentioned above, or movies about movies, then check this out.
Thank you for reading.
MORTFILMS 