RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / My Life Without Me
My Life Without Me

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

My Life Without Me (2003)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
65 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:100

Fresh:65

Rotten:35

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: Sarah Polley keeps this production afloat with her moving performance.

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Ann is 23, she has 2 daughters, a husband who spends more time unemployed than working, a mother who hates the world, a father who has spent the last ten years in jail, a strange predilection for... Ann is 23, she has 2 daughters, a husband who spends more time unemployed than working, a mother who hates the world, a father who has spent the last ten years in jail, a strange predilection for the audio-books of soap operas and a job as a night janitor in a university she could never go to in the dayime. They live in a trailer on the yard of her mother’s house, on the outskirts of Vancouver. However, this gray existence changes completely when, after a medical check-up, a shy doctor tells her that she has very little time left, hardly two months to live. Ann decides to keep her condition a secret, not to tell anybody, not even her husband. She doesn't want people around her with long faces mumbling the word "death." She starts to make a list of "things to do before dying" which she completes little by little. The list goes from "saying exactly what I think" to "getting fake fingernails." Unexpectedly, Ann discovers an appetite for life that drives her to live her last days with a sensual and furious intensity she had not known before. During that time she prepares her daughters life without her, meets a solitary wounded man who she seduces (and paradoxically brings back to life), and faces what remains of her life with a courage she never knew she had. -- © Sony Pictures Classics [More]

Starring: Sarah Polley, Mark Ruffalo, Scott Speedman, Leonor Watling

Starring: Sarah Polley, Mark Ruffalo, Scott Speedman, Leonor Watling, Deborah Harry, Amanda Plummer, Maria De Medeiros

Director: Isabel Coixet

Director: Isabel Coixet
Screenwriter: Isabel Coixet
Producer: Esther Garcia, Gordon McLennan
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • My Life Without Me Trailer
    >
1 of 1

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for My Life Without Me

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

It takes considerable sleight of hand, and a certain temerity, to fashion an uplifting tale about death. Yet My Life Without Me pulls it off.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
12/11/03
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

My Life Without Me thematizes the perennial problem of identifying with characters.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
12/05/03
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

a warm, melting analysis of life through the cold eye of death.

Full Review Source: RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland) | comment Comment
12/02/03
Tom Grealis
Tom Grealis
RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)

Coixet doesn't make her lead character compelling, or likable.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
11/28/03
Randy Cordova
Randy Cordova
Arizona Republic

It's not likely the viewer will get much from these experiences, either, altough the movie does have an ear for the mordantly funny line.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
11/21/03
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

My Life Without Me only has one way to go, and it makes some dippy turns getting there. But Polley makes the trip worth it.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
11/21/03
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

A good example of how Polley elevates nearly everything in which she appears.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
11/21/03
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

Polley's performance is pitch-perfect, and that the world described herein -- glazed with humor as well as melancholy -- is devoid of phony sentiment.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
11/20/03
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer

Ann's melodramatic take on death is, in the end, selfish and cruel to those she loves.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
11/14/03
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

Curiously, this weepy drama seems a little flatter, less involving, than it should. Especially with a cast like this.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
11/14/03
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

A strangely grim affair that will stretch the patience of more than a few viewers.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
11/14/03
Erich Scholz
Erich Scholz
Citysearch

Silly, dull and depressing.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
11/07/03
Ian Grey
Ian Grey
Orlando Weekly

Depressingly unmoving, thanks to unaffecting performances and a story that holds no surprises.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
11/07/03
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

Everything is so picture-perfect that it plays like hackneyed fiction rather than the real-life drama to which it aspires.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
11/07/03
Kim Morgan
Kim Morgan
Oregonian
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
11/07/03
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Movie Gazette | comment Comment
11/07/03
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Movie Gazette

...pulls out all the stops to elicit the requisite emotions from the audience, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
11/02/03
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

It could have easily toppled over into the maudlin. That it doesn't is due in tremendous part to Polley's effortless performance as Ann.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
11/02/03
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

Against all odds, My Life Without Me succeeds in spite of itself.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment Comment
10/31/03
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star

An odd and really wonderful mix of sadness and wonder.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
10/31/03
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
14% 14% The Ugly Truth
98% 98% Up
36% 36% G.I. Joe: The Rise of …
52% 52% The Taking of Pelham 1…
45% 45% Ice Age: Dawn of the D…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
32% 32% Terminator Salvation
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…
86% 86% A Christmas Tale
60% 60% Paper Heart

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Tobey Maguire Talks Brothers, Spider-Man 4 Source: Boston Globe
30
  • Nimród Antal Talks Predators Source: ComingSoon.net
15
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
84
  • First Look (Sort Of) at New Nightmare's Freddy Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
24
  • First Look at Shrek Forever After Source: USA Today
48
  • Woody Harrelson Will Battle Zombies in 3-D Source: Moviehole
26
  • Natalie Portman Says Kat Denning Is in Thor Source: MTV
34
  • Disney Restructuring Has Broad Implications Source: Los Angeles Times
10
  • Joel Silver Talks Ninja Assassin, Sgt. Rock, Lobo, and More Source: Collider.com
1
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
128
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Friday Harvest: The Road, Avatar, and more!
96
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
94
  • Ban Them All! 10 Infamously Controversial Movies
89
  • 5 Facts About The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
84
  • Critics Consensus: Flee From Ninja Assassin
47
  • Weekly Ketchup: Zombieland 2 in 3D?
28
  • Five Favorite Films With Zombieland Director Ruben Fleischer
24
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Vampires and Football Break Thanksgiving Records
23
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Duncan Jones Reteams With Kevin Spacey
5
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
11
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
21
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
21
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • My Life Without Me at Rotten Tomatoes
  • My Life Without Me at IGN
  • My Life Without Me at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.