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Mark Kermode Reviews "Life Itself"

LIFE ITSELF opened in London and all over the United Kingdom this past weekend. Acclaimed British film critic, Mark Kermode, penned a four-star review of Steve James' documentary about Roger Ebert for The Guardian. On the BBC Radio program, "Kermode and Mayo's Film Review," Kermode also delivered a wonderful five-minute analysis of the film while naming Ebert as "the great American humanist film critic." 

In his written review, Kermode calls "Life Itself," "a lovely, insightful film" that's "a splendidly watchable tribute to a truly cinematic life. I laughed, I cried; I was inspired and uplifted. Thumbs Up!" He also calls Roger's wife, Chaz, "a magnificent presence – an example of the best in human nature, a subject to which Ebert returned compulsively in his writing." The radio review delves much deeper into the precise reasons why Kermode holds Ebert in such high esteem, praising him for his ability to merge his expertise on film with his cumulative life experience, making each review a work of personal and expressive art unto itself. 

For a full list of venues currently screening "Life Itself" in the U.K. click here. For a list of venues in the U.S. screening the film, click here.

View the full radio review below.

Matt Fagerholm

Matt Fagerholm is the Literary Editor at RogerEbert.com and is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association. 


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