Life In A Year

"Everybody thinks that dying teaches you something about life, but they're wrong. The only way to learn about life is by living. And I've learned that every moment is your moment. Sometimes the moments are messy, sometimes they're beautiful, or scary, or just plain weird. But they're all yours. Cherish them. Living isn't easy. But if you can manage to look past your own fears and everyone else's expectations, the reward is your life. And in my life? I was loved. ”

Some films arrive without warning and remind us of the fragility of our lives and the fact that we are only there for a given period of time. This year has turned out to be a real waking nightmare, our world we live in has turned into a real science-fiction film in which a global pandemic has spread and decimated millions of people in its wake. We cannot help but notice that life is unjust and whatever the sorrows, the losses, we must stand up and above all fight for a just cause that is dear to our hearts. The new film by Mitja Okorn (Tu pa tam (2004) , Listy do M. (2011) , Planeta Singli (2016) and its American premiere has as executive producers Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith under the banner of Overbrook Entertainment and in the lead roles Jaden Smith (Karate Kid (The Karate Kid) (2010), After Earth (2013) and the sublime and all too rare Cara Delevingne (The Hidden Face of Margo (Paper Towns) (2015), Suicide Squad (2016), Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)).

When discovering this film, one will immediately think of the underestimated Sweet November (2001) with Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron. American cinema is second to none in offering dramatic comedies capable of making us laugh and move us and, above all, leave a lasting impression on our minds. Life in a Year is a dramatic comedy that tells the story of a young student, Daryl (Jaden Smith), full of promise whose father's plan is to get him into Harvard and that he will not only be an outstanding athlete but also a brilliant student. His plans will change when Daryl meets Isabelle, a young waitress in a bar in his town. Coming from a very affluent background, Daryn is the opposite of Isabelle who lives with her former babysitter (a drag queen) in a very modest apartment. Isabelle also has terminal cancer, which leaves her with only a year to live. While her father Xavier (Cuba Gooding Jr) is opposed to him continuing to see this girl, he will not listen to her and above all he will do everything he can to show how much he loves her even if he has to stop his studies and start composing because his dream is to become a rap singer.

Life in a year is certainly not original and his scenario seems only a pretext to put forward the young actor Jaden Smith who is not totally convincing but who succeeds in delivering here an interesting interpretation of a tailor-made role in which he can show that he is much better rapper than actor. The real strength of this film comes from the presence of Cara Delevingne who shows once again that she is an excellent actress and above all knows how to invest herself to the maximum to make her character realistic, strong but above all fragile. It is this striking fragility that makes Life in a Year a successful film, no matter what some American critics say. One suspects that this film by Sony Pictures shot in 2017 which was released directly in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (unfortunately not in France) had a chaotic production and above all did not convince this studio to release it a few years later directly on a streaming platform.

However, Life in a Year really deserves to be discovered thanks to the outstanding interpretation of Cara Delevingne and the successful supporting roles played by Cuba Gooding Jr. and Nia Long who play Daryn's parents. This film also shows that life is not only ephemeral, but that it is eternal love.

Life in a Year
Directed by Mitja Okorn
Produced by Marc Bienstock, Clarence Hammond, Caleeb Pinkett
Written by Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews
Starring Jaden Smith, Cara Delevingne, Cuba Gooding Jr, Nia Long
Music by Photek
Cinematography: Quyen Tran
Edited by Matthew Friedman
Production company: Columbia Pictures, Overbrook Entertainment
Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing
Release date: November 27, 2020
Running time : 108 minutes

Viewed on December 01, 2020

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