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Life During Wartime

Play trailer Poster for Life During Wartime R Released Jul 23, 2010 1h 38m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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68% Tomatometer 105 Reviews 48% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Nothing comes easily for Joy (Shirley Henderson) and her sisters, Trish (Allison Janney) and Helen (Ally Sheedy). Joy, unhappy with her job and her sleazy husband (Michael Kenneth Williams), is haunted by her dead boyfriend's ghost (Paul Reubens). Trish's pedophile husband (Ciarán Hinds) is behind bars, and she's ready to move on with her life. As an increasingly bitter Helen approaches middle age with a failing screenwriting career, it becomes clear her mother offers little comfort.

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Life During Wartime

Life During Wartime

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Critics Consensus

With Life During Wartime, Todd Solondz delivers an unexpected semi-sequel to Happiness in typically uncompromising fashion.

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Critics Reviews

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Jennie Yabroff Newsweek Helen may not be for everyone, but to at least some of us, she's irresistible. Feb 8, 2018 Full Review Chuck Bowen Slant Magazine A wonderful, must-own transfer by the Criterion Collection of one of last year's best films. Aug 1, 2011 Full Review J. R. Jones Chicago Reader I'd never have predicted something this mediocre. Jan 3, 2011 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) In the end the film is even more depressing than it was at the start. [Full review in Spanish] Aug 8, 2022 Full Review Troy Patterson Spin Life During Wartime presents scenes that feel as authentic as bad dreams, and sometimes that's happiness enough. Rated: 3/4 Oct 25, 2019 Full Review Mattie Lucas From the Front Row Solondz populates his strange little world with a host of wounded characters that are all fascinating in their own right, leaving a bittersweet and indelible impression. Rated: 3/4 Aug 5, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Dave S With Life During Wartime, Todd Solondz again proves that he is probably the most divisive filmmaker working today. A follow-up to the characters he introduced ten years earlier in Happiness, it follows the miserable lives of three sisters, Joy (Shirley Henderson), Trish (Allison Janney), and Helen (Ally Sheedy) and the delusional characters who orbit their misery. Solondz manages to pull some very dark humor from mental illness, pedophilia, prescription drugs, depression, suicide, narcissism, nihilism and a host of other bleak subjects and manages to do it with some stylish panache. Of course, it's perfectly understandable that many will find the entire thing incredibly distasteful, hence the divisiveness. Those unfamiliar with Solondz will know within a matter of minutes what their feelings are about the film, so if you don't like the first scene you'll probably hate the whole thing…and vice versa. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/16/23 Full Review cinephile f I absolutely love Todd Soldonz because he will work with subject matter that other directors will not (I particularly love Welcome to the Dollhouse, Happiness, Storytelling, Palindromes and Weiner Dog) but I wasn't really that impressed with film. I love Happiness but this was just sort of meh. I want to see all of his films so if you are a fan like me, it's worth watching but I would have preferred a completely original story. I don't know why the original needed revisiting. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Christopher B Most certainly a refined taste, Todd Solondz is a very unique and gifted Director whose films you will love or hate. I thought it was quite good and was filmed beautifully using the Red One Digital Camera which delivers a stunning image quality on the Blu-ray version. The film itself is the story of several unhappy and deeply wounded people who all have their own ways to deal with their problems, both good and sometimes fatal. Recommended if you can handle complex issues with real world results, not a happy ending where everyone lives happily ever after, or for that matter, lives. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/25/22 Full Review Audience Member Very strange movie . Very dark . Very indie . All mixed together it was in the middle of not very good and decent 2.9 Rated 3 out of 5 stars 11/30/20 Full Review william d After the seriousness of Palindromes Solondz returns to his wonderfully warped sense of humor with this excellent film. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Frances H I thought this a hilarious theater of the absurd type comedy! Excellent cast that delivered this darkly funny lines that would have cracked me up to try to deliver with a straight face, but they all pulled it off. And who lets their kid actually take lessons to do karaoke? Who would even think of giving lessons for it?? So ridiculous that it's unbelievable funny! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/26/19 Full Review Read all reviews
Life During Wartime

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis Nothing comes easily for Joy (Shirley Henderson) and her sisters, Trish (Allison Janney) and Helen (Ally Sheedy). Joy, unhappy with her job and her sleazy husband (Michael Kenneth Williams), is haunted by her dead boyfriend's ghost (Paul Reubens). Trish's pedophile husband (Ciarán Hinds) is behind bars, and she's ready to move on with her life. As an increasingly bitter Helen approaches middle age with a failing screenwriting career, it becomes clear her mother offers little comfort.
Director
Todd Solondz
Producer
Christine K. Walker, Derrick Tseng
Screenwriter
Todd Solondz
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
Werc Werk Works
Rating
R (Language|Brief Nudity|Some Disturbing Dialogue|Strong Sexual Content)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 23, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 15, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$278.8K
Runtime
1h 38m
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