Life Itself

Life Itself is both an unflinching document of the last days of film critic Roger Ebert’s life and a densely packed celebration of his career. The former is told through interviews with Ebert while in hospital. Unable to speak, his face ravaged by cancer, Ebert jokes around using a speaking computer. His good humour is exaggerated by a limp lower lip (his jaw bone was removed during a previous operation) that creates a wide smile that remains constant, even when he’s in obvious pain – the cognitive dissonance is bracing.

Director Steve James (Hoop Dreams) intercepts these often hard-to-watch scenes with a fast-paced collage of archive clips and revealing stories from Ebert’s foul-mouthed newspaper buddies and the filmmakers he championed (including Errol Morris and Werner Herzog). Refreshingly, this is no hagiography. Fellow Chicago critic Jonathan Rosenbaum pops up to lambast Ebert’s shallow, consumer guide-style TV reviews and we hear plenty of stories of his pomposity (he loved bringing up his Pulitzer Prize to win arguments). The result is rich, moving and often hilarious. [Jamie Dunn]