Now admittedly, I was not very familiar with Roger Ebert's work or career until right before I watched this film; I actually was surprised to learn that he had passed away, due to the fact that I still see reviews from his website everywhere. My only real knowledge of him was that he was essentially the go-to film critic, and the primary face of film criticism. But after watching this film, I don't feel like I know every single bit and piece of the man's work, and because of that I feel like this movie did exactly what it wanted to do, for better or for worse. "Life Itself" strikes the perfect balance between informing the viewer on its subject while still not spoon feeding the viewer; we aren't given every little detail of Ebert's life, but a flowing narrative that informs us on his character and his career. This movie serves more it seems as a visual companion piece of his autobiography, as many excerpts from it are used in the film, and in that regard I think it really works very well. This film never paints Ebert as perfect, but it always shows the right balance of sympathy and realism to really feel like Roger Ebert as a person is encapsulated well in this film. This movie isn't about a movie critic as much as it's about a man's life. A man who just happened to have a deep passion for film criticism. And ultimately, this film does an excellent job of representing a man whose impact on the realm film criticism very well, albeit with the occasionally pacing issue or interview that feels a little unnecessary. Overall, I can definitely recommend "Life Itself" to any movie fan. 8.7/10

I was familiar with Roger Ebert from his various review programs and prolific writing, but I knew little about his life and history before watching this film. What a story!His struggles and weaknesses and life-experiences clearly did much to shape his worldview and now, in retrospect, I can see how all those things impacted his writing and reporting on film.This film does a great job of following Mr. Ebert's journey through life and the unflinching way it captures his battle at the end, facing death, was astonishing, painful, and ultimately inspiring.Two thumbs up, indeed!

Roger Ebert is a remarkable man. Not just because he was probably the most famous film critic in the world but because the last years of his life when he had no lower jaw because it was removed because of cancer yet he still managed to write film reviews and his blog thanks to help from doctors and his wonderfully loving family. This film talks about his frosty relationship with his TV film reviewing partner Gene Siskel and the work he did with directors Russ Meyer and Martin Scorsesi but really this is about the last years of his life and it's very sad. He was a great and prolific writer but not the most natural TV presenter but because of the respect he had among his peers that didn't really matter. RIP Roger Ebert A brilliant documentary.

As an aspiring film critic myself, there are quite a few people who I look up to in that profession. Whether it be Jeremy Jahns, The Schmoes, Chris Stuckmann, or Alicia Malone, they all have a different way of spreading their love for movies through words and passion. But the first critic that I ever remembered the name for was Roger Ebert. Just as my review title states, nobody said it better than Roger. He had a way of articulating his words into an informative and entertaining way that made me want to go see the movie and understand what he meant. I mean gosh this man won and Pulitzer Prize and his license plate is 'movies', I mean come on.This documentary gives us an open and personal look at the most famous film critic to ever live. It's directed by acclaimed documentarian Steve James (Hoop Dreams), so you know you're getting a genuinely well thought out film. Unfortunately James had to deal with Ebert's passing a few years back that I'm sure switched the film around a bit. What's great about Life Itself is that Roger says in it that he doesn't want himself to overpower the story of the film. I think he means that sometimes the subject of the film tends to have too much input about what is and isn't shown in the film. But it goes on to show his darker times and his personality that ticked a lot of people off. His relationship with Siskel was average at best and he wasn't afraid to say what he wanted to say whenever he wanted to say it. But I think the more important thing here was his commitment to writing and talking about how beautiful cinema is and always has been.Being from Chicago myself and knowing Ebert was born and raised in Illinois and went on to write for the Sun-Times for more than 40 years, made it even more important to me to see this film and read his reviews. He's one of the few critics where even when I completely disagree with him, I can see where he's coming from and find it hard to argue with the things he says. He predicted Martin Scorsese would become one of the great film directors of all time 10 years before he gave us Raging Bull. Scorsese had quite a few insightful things to say about how much Ebert meant to him, even when he ripped on his movies. I'm glad the film addressed the celebrity that Ebert became and how close actors and people in the film business came to him as his fame grew.As inspirational and devastating as the film can be at times, (talk about tearing up at the end), it's a very spiritual experience. Ebert narrates some of the segments of the film including some that feel like he knows what's coming next. And I think that's why the film impacted me so much, is that Roger really was the star of his own movie, and of course the director, writer, and brought all the actors in. He really did love Life Itself more than movies, the only thing he loved more than movies.+Inspirational, being an aspiring film critic from Chicago +Showed all sides +The Siskel & Ebert relationship was cool to see +Touching and spiritual experience 10/10 (Two Thumbs Up)!