![]() ![]() ![]() This spectacle of private pain and celebrity voyeurism, even in the name of unflinching documentary honesty, is troubling. I have several reservations, including whether it's helpful to watch Ebert in his declining days, having his G-tube suctioned, or struggling with weakness. In his honour, I will try to use the word "I" several times in this review. Many, including me, were slightly acquainted with Ebert and liked him. No doubt, they have a professional bias toward the subject matter. When it had its debut at Sundance Film Festival in January, the room was reportedly filled with weeping. Reviewers, many of whom were acquainted with Ebert, have been emotional and positive about the film. Ebert created a certain image of what film critics do in the public's mind: Arguing, waving his thumb up or down, like a Roman tyrant, speaking in confident paragraphs about movies great and small and mostly, in-between. ![]() Shot during the last months of the 70-year-old journalist's life, using a voice actor to read from his blogs and memoir, and featuring tributes from his friends, both famous and not, is a tribute and historical perspective on the man behind a pop-cultural phenomenon. As with many eulogies, the new movie Life Itself, a documentary about Roger Ebert by fellow Chicago filmmaker Steve James, induces mixed emotions. ![]()
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