Is Stephen King’s ‘The Life Of Chuck’ Really Unfilmable?

Many films have been made of Stephen King’s work, from short stories to novellas to novels. So, if the author (who’s also a screenwriter) thinks a prose work of his is “unfilmable,” it might be worth listening to him.

Reportedly, King told writer/director Mike Flanagan — who’s adapted his work before — that his three-part novella The Life of Chuck was “unfilmable.”

But, Flanagan did it anyway.

The Life of Chuck, starring British actor Tom Hiddleston in the title role, went into limited release on June 6, and goes nationwide on June 13.

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What Is The Life of Chuck About?

Well, that would be telling. Really. Almost anything I could say — except to those who’ve read the novella — would be super-spoilery. So, I’ll just say this:

It’s about the end of a world.

It’s about the life of Chuck, from boy to man.

That’s it. This is a mystery-box story, told in an unconventional way. You may love it (I know people who did); you may hate it (ditto); or you may just go, “Well, that happened” (ditto as well, and that’s kind of where I stand).

Hiddleston gets to show off his dancing feet (and he’s a pretty snappy hoofer). Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Karen Gillian do some great acting turns. Nick Offerman voices very entertaining narration — and Mia Sara (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) pops up in a charming performance, her first screen role in 14 years.

But, if you’re leaving the theater talking about the performances, then you likely didn’t get lost in the story.

Or, you got lost because of the story.

“It’s so Stephen King, it hurts.”

… or so I said to my seatmate at the screening. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a longtime King reader and watcher. He sometimes can’t stick the landing (giant spider in It, anyone?). But in all that I’ve read or watched, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

King has a particular genius for creating memorable characters, even down to minor ones. Once, on a set visit to the King series Under the Dome, I got to say to King what I had long said about him, “Almost everybody dies in your stories, but nobody dies a stranger.”

However, King, like all writers, has quirks and signature elements. He can be very sentimental and earnest, sometimes edging up to maudlin.

King Likes to Say More

King also loves to include quotes and pop-music lyrics. He often focuses on a few phrases or words and carpet-bombs them throughout the work.

Obviously, none of this has impeded his success. But, over the years — as, I suspect, editors had less impact on the great author’s prose — it’s gotten more obvious.

In The Life of Chuck, that’s “I contain multitudes,” a line from the Walt Whitman poem Song of Myself. It’s not only a mantra in the film, but the major underpinning idea of the whole thing.

There are also repeated references to astronomer and TV presenter Carl Sagan’s analogy of the history of the Universe as one calendar year.

According to Flanagan, in a group press conference for the movie, that’s not in the original story. But, it’s used often enough that it might as well have been a King choice.

And, if you really like math, you’ll appreciate some things Hamill’s character has to say.

King Likes All the Feels

The King sentimentalism is also in there — aiming for wisdom and more often hitting greeting card.

Offerman’s gravelly narration sometimes increases the sentimental tone but, at other times, undercuts it, which is a relief.

But all of this wouldn’t have been such an issue if the structure of the film had actually served the story (not the novella, which I haven’t read, but the story being told) — which I don’t think it does.

I can see what Flanagan was aiming for. I don’t think he hit it.

Is God Present in The Life of Chuck?

Not explicitly, but I will say that the film does celebrate the value of human lives and has an essentially kind heart and spirit. In our cynical age, that’s not a bad thing.

Flanagan is a lapsed Catholic. But, unlike in his Catholic-themed horror series Midnight Mass, organized religion isn’t a negative or a positive here. It’s just not discussed, but larger questions of life and good and evil and all that are — and it’s fine.

According to his website, King was raised Methodist, still believes in God and reads the Bible, and his wife, Tabitha, was raised Catholic.

Faith sometimes figures into his work — such as The Stand, for example. King is skeptical and even wary of organized religion — or, at least, the misuse of it — but I wouldn’t ever call him anti-faith.

I wouldn’t say The Life of Chuck is anti-faith either.

Is The Life of Chuck for Families?

The Life of Chuck is rated R and has some language, but there’s nothing explicit in it. Being Stephen King, there are some gruesome references, but they’re not depicted.

But tonally and structurally, I would say this is a film for grownups. I doubt even high-schoolers would be much interested.

In Conclusion

The whole thing is just rather self-consciously twee and precious — not my favorite things, but they might be yours.

Despite the flaws I saw in it, The Life of Chuck is not without value, nor without positive things to say about grasping the moments we have.

As Hiddleston said at the press conference:

None of us know the last date. None of us know how it’s gonna end. We all live, each of us, every day, in that uncertainty. We do the best we can with the life we have. And that awareness, I think, is something that comes in and out of focus in our lives — that actually this is not a dress rehearsal.

What’s the Voltaire quote? We all have two lives, the second begins when you realize you only have one. And you don’t know when that life is gonna run out.