Life in a Year is an American romantic drama film directed by Mitja Okorn. It stars Jaden Smith and Cara Delevingne in the main roles, along with Cuba Gooding Jr., Nia Long, Chris D'Elia, JT Neal, and Stony Blyden in supporting roles. It was released on 27th November 2020 on Amazon Prime Video.
Daryn (Jaden Smith) is preparing for applying to Harvard University and is living a rich life and his future is all planned, thanks to his father who always tracks records of his day-to-day works, and even 30 seconds late in the running is a huge deal for his father. But Daryn's mother Catherine (Nia Long) allows him to take a break from his packed life to go to a concert with his best friends Sammy (JT Neal) and Kiran (Stony Blyden). There Daryn meets an unafraid, neon color hair and spirited young girl Isabelle (Cara Delevingne), and the next day he again sees her working in a fast-food restaurant and they start spending some time together going on "one more time" kind of dates.
Daryn's father Xavier (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is not happy with his son spending and wasting time with a girl instead of concentrating on building a future and getting admission to Harvard University. There have been two months since Daryn and Isabelle first met and when he tries to get too close to her, Isabelle shuns him which leads them to have a heated argument revealing that Isabelle is diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. She further tells him that she has only one year left and now Daryn is here to makes sure to make the last year the happiest one of her life.
The film written by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews is good in some places. The film lacks emotion and without that, it's hard to hook on to. The film impresses in bringing two lead characters with some realism. Daryn is extremely well written and many out there will find him relatable to some extent. His sour bitter relation with his father is not explored with that depth but at least it's understandable. Daryn's mood and dilemma are well portrayed on the screen, who is living a life control by his father, suppressing his dreams, what he liked to be one day.
Isabelle's character might sound good on paper and it's all over the place as you see in the film, her relationship with her mom is just discarded. There are a couple of scenes but they hardly add any depth to Isabelle. It's very hard to dislike the movie as it's packed with comedy, romance, drama, melodrama, awkward dinner scenes of the lover with parents, but why it's still bad?
The film really pinches you and makes you relive The Fault in Our Stars, All The Bright Places, Clouds, and many of these genre beautiful moments, and finally, you realize you are not crying. That's where the film fails miserably to evoke the pain and to strike the right chord. It's known that the film is predictable from the first frame and that's okay, it's wrong to expect something extraordinary from this film.
Some of the scenes and characters are good and I've to give credit for that, besides that the film is just bland, with forced dialogues (in that dinner scene), no heart-touching moments. I didn't understand what was the purpose of making this film. The film lacks magic and charm and there's not even sparkling chemistry between the two leads.
Jaden Smith is below average in many parts but impresses in some of the scenes, especially, his argument with his father and in the climax. Cara Delevingne is the only good thing in this below-average film. She as Isabelle is a delight to watch and shines in every scene. Cuba Gooding Jr. as the tough father is very effective and Nia Long as Catherine is also good. Chris Delia as Phil has a strong presence. JT Neal and Stony Blyden as Daryn's friends are entertaining.
The cinematography by Quyen Tran is wonderful in some places but mostly very average. The music was terrific and the background music is also very soothing. The production design by Lisa Soper is not impressive and feels artificial.
Life in A Year is not a good choice if you're looking for "cancer romance movies" with a heavy emotional ride. It lacks the magic and the visual appeal these movies should have. Apart from Cara Delevingne's stunning performance nothing actually works to triggers the emotional threshold to break, it's simply dull, boring, and flat. Go and watch The Fault in Our Stars, Chemical Hearts, All The Bright Places, Clouds, P.S. I Love You, Sweet November, instead. Skip this bore-fest.
Rating:- 2/5
Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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