THAT'S LIFE

Director Blake Edwards / 1986 / USA

Blake Edwards' That's Life is very much a 'family affair' with the director's family filling the various roles in this account of a family in crisis. The crisis is that of a successful architect, played by Edwards' old friend Jack Lemmon, who on the eve of his 60th birthday frets over his fading sexual energy and the prospect of becoming a grandfather. In the meantime his wife, played by Edwards' wife Julie Andrews, nervously awaits the results of a biopsy. In this scenario come the couple's children, played by Lemmon's son Chris, Edwards' daughter Jennifer and Andrews' daughter Emma Walton, each contributing something to the crisis undergoing the Malibu family.

Described in Variety as a film that is "personal virtually to the point of being a home movie", That's Life marks a unique return to form for veteran director Blake Edwards. Produced on a very small budget, it was co-written by Edwards and his analyst, Milton Wexler. Like the best of Edwards' work, the film intermittently deals with its serious and intimate subject matter - "barely controlled freakout over the prospect of entering old age."

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