tmf084 The story is about a small town and how life sucks for almost everyone. And we see a depiction of the various coping mechanisms - taking it with humor, the dire situation fueling aggression, escapism, acceptance and resilience. It's quite an interesting theme. Unfortunately the comparison between the different ways of handling life falls short and the focus lying solely on Webber's and Deschanel's character makes the movie one sided and weakens the whole premise. This and the attempt to give the movie a melancholic undertone makes it rather boring to watch. With less stereotyping of the other characters and a more in depth portrayal of them could have made the movie a really good one.Overall: It's not bad and definitely worth watching on a lazy Sunday - it just doesn't live up to it's potential.

samkan The arc of the plot is much like THE RIVER KING. Though entirely different as far as genre and intended audience, both movies do a very good job at introducing a multitude of characters and potential conflict and then shamelessly just ignore any attempt at resolution, be it good or bad, moral or immoral, clear or ambiguous, etc.Having said so much, TGL is the more highbrow of the movies. The acting, shots, script are excellent and for about an hour this viewer was very involved with the main character and engrossed in his conflicts (indeed, our protagonist is the focus point in every scene, except for the football coach TV blurbs that serve as the backdrop of the setting).There are multiple, well conceived and introduced plot conflicts: coming of age, love interest, parental, Oedipal, antagonist, death (even, though not-so-well, sexuality) just to name a few. Plot conflicts do not have to be resolved, life is not so neat. They can be compromised, contained, accepted, condoned, absorbed (name your own disposition!). But they must be treated in some form or manner. Mr. Berra has made a movie of interest and we can look forward to more. Next time, however, he should finish his film.

danikron I've seen this movie compared to Donnie Darko several times, most recently in another comment here on IMDb, however, they're nothing alike. Donnie Darko is a beautiful, thought-provoking film, while this movie just falls flat. It tries so very hard to be deep and depressing, that it ends up almost a parody of itself. The quasi-philosophical mumblings of the main character sound like they where stolen from a manga and none of the characters seem even remotely like actual people.My advice, watch "The Go-Getter" instead. It too has a young man who's lost both a parent and his way, it too has Zooey Deschanel, and unlike The Good Life, it has humor and it doesn't try to be something it's not.

Joel Wassner I had the honor of seeing this film at the first annual Lone Star International Film Festival. I really can't remember the last time I was so drawn into a film. I never checked the time or anything I typically do in a movie. It was really a brilliant piece of art.There were many themes throughout the film. The one that really stuck out to me was mental illness. At least 5 characters in the film portray symptoms of various mental disorders. When I asked Stephen Berra about it after the showing, he said that he had never seen it from that light, that it was not intentional, and that he thinks all of us show symptoms of mental disorders. While I understood that, I definitely think that that theme was integral to the story.The only thing is...there are no memorable quotes on here! There were so many good ones...someone please get on that.Also, I really hope this makes it out into the general audiences. This is a great film that I would see again and again.