Life itself is a Documentary film about the life and career Roger Ebert a host on the very popular show Siskel and Ebert and a Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic. For about a day I debated whether I should write a review of this film at all. I had never watched the Siskel and Ebert show, never even read a word of Roger Ebert's countless film reviews. I was an outsider and felt that in a way my opinion was unimportant, but then I reflected back on the way that Roger democratized film criticism at the Conference on World Affairs with his Cinema Interrupts series, and I was sufficiently emboldened. The film starts with a clip of Roger speaking about the advancement of civilization and the importance of empathy. When he mentions film he makes it clear that the most important thing a movie can do is put you in the shoes of someone else and give you that experience in a way no other media can. After watching Life Itself I am struck by just how perfectly Director Steve James and Roger Ebert accomplish this. I went from being someone who knew nothing of Roger to feeling as though we could have been friends. This film made me do more than laugh and cry it drove me to take up writing movie reviews again! Roger had his own newspaper column at 15 years old when he was still delivering that same paper! My friends and I were newspaper boys for a short while in high school and none of us were bright enough to have written for the advertisement and coupon holder of a paper we delivered! As much of a hit to the ego as this all was I couldn't help but be inspired by the ability Ebert displayed. This was a young man who at one point literally stopped the presses! We are taken through time in a mostly linear fashion during the movie aside from the occasional interviews with Roger in the hospital. The film starts by giving us an idea of Roger's childhood and the relationship he had with his parents through questions posed in the interview, quotes from his memoir, and photographs from his youth. The Documentary skillfully continues to weave together interviews with friends, family, and excerpts from Rogers's reviews, along with many photos and video clips. Director Steve James pulls all these fragments together giving us a clear impression of Roger's life. Some of the most memorable clips were of the behind the scenes bickering between Gene Siskel and Roger on the Siskel and Ebert show. The two of them would do anything to knock the other off his game and always had a snarky remark for when the other messed up a take! Over time though they started to gain respect for each other and even grew close when doing the later seasons of the show. As the feature comes to a close we are introduced to more of Rogers health struggles and hear more from his wife and family. There are many touching exchanges that are initiated by Roger who has seemingly come to terms with his mortality and wishes to put things in order. Emails between Roger and Steve the director become more labored and eventually stop. When Roger posts his final blog entry you feel as if you've lost an old friend. Documentary films offer us something other movies can not. We are given a window into the lives of people rather than characters, life rather than cleverly or clumsily written stories. I have developed a deep adoration for a man who only a few days ago I knew barely a thing about. Life Itself is a beautiful walk in someone else's shoes.

There's an old clip of outtakes from "Siskel and Ebert at the Movies" showing the two critics bumbling a show intro, and they're just at each other's throats. It shocked me when I first saw it (probably on YouTube) because the men as I'd known them (being household names) shared a businesslike relationship. "Life Itself" contains even more of that footage, and expounds on what was really a professional rivalry between Siskel and Ebert; and I think that was my favorite part of the film because their relationship really was contentious. It's fascinating, and still surprises me even after having seen this.There's a lot to illuminate about Roger Ebert, and some of the most absorbing material is in his pre-television career as a dyed-in-the-wool newspaperman. That, and the focus on Chaz, who has a really warm presence. It doesn't really matter where you stand on Roget Ebert the film critic (I tend to think of him as an essayist) because "Life Itself" is bound to pluck just the right heartstring. This is touching, funny and just a nice look at an accomplished life.7/10

Life Itself(2014) Starring:Roger Ebert,Chaz Ebert,Martin Scorsese,and A.O Scott Directed By:Steve James Review A long time I go while I was watching a requested review by filmmasteradam on the movie Daredevil. He started the review by talking about what Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert said in a video that has been shown to journalism students and while I was watching that part I was like I really like these film critics and from there I've been watching videos on Roger Ebert from Nostalgia Critic,Chris Stuckman and some times reading his reviews or watching them on movies I haven't seen yet and I still do. But when Roger passed I found myself at dismay if he's gone who am I suppose to listen to when it comes to watching movies or just wanting to see an opinion on another critic,Chris Stuckman is still just a young man who I'm pretty sure doesn't have a picture under Rotten Tomatoes along with JeremyJahns and Filmmasteradam takes forever uploading a movie review because he's busy with college.That was until I noticed that my father or mother put a subscription for Entertainment Weekly and every now and then read the reviews from either critics Chris Nashawaty or Owen Gilberman along with two other critics who are associated with Roger Matt Zoller Seltz and Richard Roper. Even though I don't agree with Roper too often. The movie is of course a documentary,which is hard for any person to watch because you have to be either fond and familiar to the subject matter. But I was fond and familiar with Roger Ebert and I'm watching this documentation on him thinking that the best thing I can give about any documentary is that it is informative and enjoyable which this is.When you would watch any of Roger's friends or coworkers talk about I honestly felt that like I think i know what it is there feeling about how his work was and the things he did or his relationships with his family. I think that is the highlight of this film. I didn't take this film for an emotional tour of a critic who I enjoyed and you shouldn't either unless you've watched a good amount of his shows of Siskel&Ebert or Ebert and Roper,but if you haven't then take the film/documentation tour for the same reason I did,a tour into a mans life who loved movies just as much as you should if you are on this site/group and when the film is finished always remember one thing that I like to say for every time I ask a question,make a statement or leave a link to a review of a film that I enjoyed, always remember that no matter how bad films can be that there is an art to them for their badness and for the others their goodness remember to enjoy the movies! I give Life Itself a two thumps up and a five out of five.

The documentary reasons that Ebert's enthusiasm for wanting the painful and explicit procedures he daily endures following the loss of his lower jaw comes from long-time colleague Gene Siskel's withholding of his own brain cancer from Roger. To be sure the procedures make this a challenging documentary to watch and arguably take away from the life the movie intends to document. While we do get some of the biography presented in Ebert's book segmented as he did by chapters devoted to those closest to him, much of the detail is missing. This choice makes for a major distraction from Ebert's contribution. However, unlike the book, the movie tells us some of Siskel's background and kindles some interest in learning more about him. When will that bio debut? In short, the fascinating "Zelig"-like life of Ebert shines through despite the narrative choices.