Life of Riley

2014

1h 48m

Comedy

List

76%

29 Reviews

Tomatometer

42%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

During rehearsals for a play, Colin and Kathryn receive news their friend George is fatally ill.

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Ben Sachs

Chicago Reader

As in all of Resnais's theatrical adaptations, the performances are warm and naturalistic, countering the artificiality of the stage conventions and illuminating the universal struggle to create personal meaning in lives bound by social convention.

Mar 12, 2015

Full Review

Kate Muir

Times (UK)

I found it unbearably boring and mannered.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 6, 2015

Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

I personally prefer the more vital, cinematic ideas of Resnais in his youth to the stagey confections of his later years. But Life of Riley has its own sadness and charm.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 5, 2015

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

Life of Riley is a highly styled exercise from a master filmmaker, a bittersweet addendum to an impressive body of work.

Rated: 4/5

Jul 9, 2019

Full Review

Patrick Gamble

CineVue

What initially appears to be a case of art imitating art soon begins to feel like an economic and tawdry imitation.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 4, 2019

Full Review

Rosalynn Try-Hane

Battle Royale With Cheese

[Life of Riley] is a film adaptation of the play by Alan Ayckbourn that is bereft of laughs or joy and just tries too hard.

Aug 21, 2018

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Audience Member

So bored, I'm reviewing it halfway through. Poo, what a curate's egg. The acting's fine, but it's a pretty dull and dour exercise in abstract theatre/film combo. Couldn't care less how it ends. Second viewing: never give up on movies. Works better having adjusted to the near-Brechtian format. The characters are growing on me. Always helps.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

brian k

I rarely walk out on a film, but my wife and I couldn't take any more of the boredom and pretentiousness. There's no narrative drive, no comedy, no drama, and the characters are uninteresting. It's a sad end to a sometimes-great director's career.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

George sabia viver. A gente suspeita de que Alain, também.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

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Alain Resnais

Director

Sabine Azéma

Kathryn

Hippolyte Girardot

Colin

Caroline Sihol

Tamara

Michel Vuillermoz

Jack

Sandrine Kiberlain

Monica

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Synopsis

During rehearsals for a play, Colin and Kathryn receive news their friend George is fatally ill.

Director: Alain Resnais
Producer: Christophe Jeauffroy
Screenwriter: Laurent Herbiet, Alain Resnais
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: French (Canada)
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 10, 2016
Runtime: 1h 48m

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