“Living” stars Bill Nighy as a terminally-ill Englishman.
“To Live, or not to live, that is the question.” Ok, that is not quite how the famous quote goes per William Shakespeare in his work Hamlet. But, that is indeed the question to be had for terminally ill Englishman “Williams,” played by Bill Nighy (Notes On A Scandal). After receiving a grim health prognosis from his doctor, this stuffy businessman tries to loosen his collar a bit with the remaining months he has left on this earth.
Sounds kind of bleak and depressing, doesn’t it? Well yes, but so is life if we solely focused on the end of the line. This kind of plot line works for some movies, but sadly it doesn’t for this one. Nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay, I wanted to walk away with affection for this tender story, but frankly I was just bored and unaffected in the end.
“Living” centers around 1950’s London. Without question the film is shot beautifully, following around this elder civil servant to his country, but I just wanted Williams to do so much with his remaining time left. But, who am I to judge how someone spends their precious time?
Widowed and practically treated as a chore by his adult son and wife, his life just seems so mundane and passionless to a person like me. To live with such disdain for life would appear to me to be a death sentence. But I see it everyday in the eyes of my customers, neighbors, that man at the next gas pump. Seemingly just waiting for death while still living. What would you do with your remaining time if you were told you only had six to eight months left to live?
An even more important question to be mulled over is, why must it always take a life shattering event to shake us up enough to finally wake up and smell the roses? Without a question, I would leave my day trade in a split second and never look back. For an artist punching into a time clock day after day, year after year, I do what a robot can do. I am just a paid monkey. Would you leave your spouse perhaps, find true happiness on your own? Would you take that overseas bucket list trip you have always dreamed of?
The concept behind “Living” is so much more powerful then the actual execution was. Forgive me but it was downright dull. In closing, don’t wait another Pennsylvania minute to pass, go now, get to living!
Christopher’s “Meow” Score: “4 1/2” paws out of 10.
