Crappy film

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

You can like or dislike kevin kline, i disliked him until i saw this movie, and its one of a few films that makes my tears flow,and throath get dry. its a film about building relations in love,family and of course a house. it is a cudlingly funny movie,where it seems like much of the action has been done with a one take-strategy,and shows a spectre of qualities i never knew mr kline had. the rest of the cast are also awsome, its an unforgetable film. wanna cry.... try this one

Sam Monroe (Hayden Christensen) is a mess and doesn't get along with his stepfather. His mother Robin Kimball (Kristin Scott Thomas) divorced from his father George Monroe (Kevin Kline) 10 years ago. George gets fired from his hated architectural job. He's dying from cancer and decides to tear down his shack to build his dream house. He has a combative relationship with his next door neighbor Colleen Beck (Mary Steenburgen). Her daughter Alyssa (Jena Malone) is Sam's schoolmate and she likes Sam. George forces Sam to spend the summer with him building the house. School drug dealer Josh (Ian Somerhalder) recruits Sam to prostitute himself and they're arrested by the police.I am not a Hayden Christensen fan. Other than 'Shattered Glass', I rarely like his performances. For this movie, he's well cast for this whiny bitter teen character. He has a pathetic self-indulgent streak that is perfect for this role. This movie can be overly sentimental. I would rather not have some of the sappy talk between Sam and Robin. It needs to stay focused on the father and son relationship. There are also a few too many people sleeping around. That cul-de-sac turns into orgy central all of a sudden. There is a solid foundation of a sentimental movie in the middle of everything.

Though Kline and Scott-Thomas are the leads and show their chops that made them stars, Christensen shines so brilliantly that his talent is breath-taking. Each role is so well-portrayed that you're completely comfortable understanding the plot. The movie is challenging, thought-provoking, and intensely human, well-worth the attention of men who may presume that it's a chick flick. The action and adventure is in the challenge to deal with the plot. It's gut-honest, everyday life, involving situations we all deal with: intent, marital disharmony, second-guessing decisions we made, seeing the light, and desperate substitutes we use to deflect pain.

Love, love lost and love gained are what I would consider the defining characteristics of this film. By examining the fates and troubles of a handful of individuals and their interaction with one another this film defines what it is to be a family. The house, its demolition and re-building is the ultimate metaphor that is central to each individual characters transformation. Character functions and the ideologies surrounding life, family, death and re-birth play a crucial role. Life As A House is predominantly a film set around one families struggle to accept one another and how the fate of one persons demise eventually brings them together.