Life of Riley

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Life of Riley

2014

1h 48m

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

73%

Tomatometer

26 Reviews

42%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

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

Ben Sachs

Chicago Reader

03/12/2015

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.

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Kate Muir

The Times (UK)

03/06/2015

2/5

I found it unbearably boring and mannered.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

03/05/2015

3/5

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.

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

07/09/2019

4/5

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

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Patrick Gamble

CineVue

04/04/2019

3/5

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

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Rosalynn Try-Hane

Battle Royale With Cheese

08/21/2018

[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.

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04/23/2017

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.

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brian k

03/31/2015

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.

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08/03/2014

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

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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: Jean-Louis Livi
Screenwriter: Laurent Herbiet, Alain Resnais
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: Canadian French
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 10, 2016
Runtime: 1h 48m