In <em>Life Itself</em>, Death Is the Ultimate Plot Twist
The writer and director Dan Fogelman (<em>This Is Us</em>) has crafted a film with an all-star cast—Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Antonio Banderas—but an absolutely miserable script.
Halfway through —Dan Fogelman’s multigenerational saga of love, death, and manufactured trauma—the film abruptly cuts from a tragic scene to a brand-new story. A rich vineyard owner in Spain, Mr. Saccione (played by Antonio Banderas), pours himself a glass of Manzanilla and rambles to his employee Javier (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) about his childhood, his fractured relationship with his parents, and his lingering guilt over his wealth. It’s an entrancing speech, helped by the fact that it’s delivered by Banderas, who’s always mesmerizing to watch in his
