MOVIEmeter
Top 5000
Up 1,080 this week

Life as a House (2001)

R  |   |  Drama  |  9 November 2001 (USA)
7.5
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.5/10 from 38,003 users   Metascore: 45/100
Reviews: 356 user | 99 critic | 32 from Metacritic.com

When a man is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he takes custody of his misanthropic teenage son, for whom quality time means getting high, engaging in small-time prostitution, and avoiding his father.

Director:

Writer:

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

Watch Now

From $2.99 on Amazon Video

ON DISC

Top 25 Trivia Items From the Last 25 Years

Here are some amazing facts and figures to deepen your appreciation of the movies you love.

See the full list

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 44 titles
created 30 Sep 2011
 
a list of 38 titles
created 03 Nov 2012
 
a list of 35 titles
created 21 Dec 2012
 
a list of 49 titles
created 8 months ago
 
a list of 22 titles
created 5 months ago
 

Related Items

Search for "Life as a House" on Amazon.com

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Life as a House (2001)

Life as a House (2001) on IMDb 7.5/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Life as a House.

User Polls

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 8 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Drama | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

The true story of a young journalist who fell from grace when it was found he had fabricated over half of his articles.

Director: Billy Ray
Stars: Hayden Christensen, Chloë Sevigny, Steve Zahn
Awake (2007)
Crime | Mystery | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

The story focuses on a man who suffers "anesthetic awareness" and finds himself awake and aware, but paralyzed, during heart surgery. His mother must wrestle with her own demons as a turn of events unfolds around them, while trying to unfold the story hidden behind her son's young wife.

Director: Joby Harold
Stars: Hayden Christensen, Jessica Alba, Terrence Howard
Trapped in a Purple Haze (TV Movie 2000)
Crime | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

When a charismatic teenager falters under constant pressure from his parents and school, he makes a potentially deadly mistake.

Director: Eric Laneuville
Stars: Jonathan Jackson, JoBeth Williams, Carly Pope
In & Out (1997)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.3/10 X  

A midwestern teacher questions his sexuality after a former student makes a comment about him at the Academy Awards.

Director: Frank Oz
Stars: Kevin Kline, Joan Cusack, Tom Selleck
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

Based on Daniel Wright's award-winning play "Colored Eggs", is a drama/comedy about life, loss and love among an eccentric group of characters whose lives intersect under less than ideal circumstances.

Director: Martin Guigui
Stars: Lauren Holly, Faye Dunaway, Ian Somerhalder
Adventure | Comedy | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 4.8/10 X  

Young Florentines take refuge from the black plague and engage in bawdy adventures and lusty exchanges.

Director: David Leland
Stars: Hayden Christensen, Mischa Barton, Ryan Cartwright
I Am Sam (2001)
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A mentally handicapped man fights for custody of his 7-year-old daughter, and in the process teaches his cold hearted lawyer the value of love and family.

Director: Jessie Nelson
Stars: Sean Penn, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dakota Fanning
French Kiss (1995)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

A woman flies to France to confront her straying fiancé, but gets into trouble when the charming crook seated next to her uses her for smuggling.

Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Stars: Meg Ryan, Kevin Kline, Timothy Hutton
Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

An idealistic prep school teacher attempts to redeem an incorrigible student.

Director: Michael Hoffman
Stars: Kevin Kline, Emile Hirsch, Joel Gretsch
Horror | Mystery | Thriller
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 4.9/10 X  

The population of Detroit has almost completely disappeared, but a few remain. As daylight disappears they realize that the Dark is coming for them.

Director: Brad Anderson
Stars: Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo
Street Law (1995)
Action | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 4.5/10 X  

A martial arts-trained lawyer (Jeff Wincott) is forced to fight in illicit matches after he is framed for a crime, is dismissed from his firm, and all his assets are tied up, including his ... See full summary »

Director: Damian Lee
Stars: Jeff Wincott, Paco Christian Prieto, Christina Cox
Dave (1993)
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

To avoid a potentially explosive scandal when the U.S. President goes into a coma, an affable temp agency owner with an uncanny resemblance, is put in his place.

Director: Ivan Reitman
Stars: Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Josh
...
Peter Kimball
...
Officer Kurt Walker
Sandra Nelson ...
Nurse #1
...
David Dokos
...
Bryan Burke
...
Bob Larson
Barry Primus ...
Tom
Edit

Storyline

George Monroe is a lonely and sad man. Divorced for ten years, he lives alone on the Southern California coast with his pet dog in the same run down shack he has lived in for twenty-five years, the shack which his father passed down to him. In the intervening years, ostentatious houses have sprung up around him. He's been at the same architectural firm for twenty years in a job he hates, which primarily consists of building scale models. On the day that he is fired from his job, he is diagnosed with an advanced case of terminal cancer, which he chooses not to disclose to his family. In many ways, this day is the happiest of his recent life in that he decides to spend what little time he has left doing what he really wants to do, namely build a house he can call his own to replace the shack. He also wants his rebellious sixteen year old son, Sam Monroe, to live with him for the summer, hopefully not only to help in the house construction, but for the two to reconnect as a family. ... Written by Huggo

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

Seen from a distance, it's perfect.

Genres:

Drama

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexuality and drug use | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

9 November 2001 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Das Haus am Meer  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$294,056 (USA) (26 October 2001)

Gross:

$15,561,627 (USA) (21 December 2001)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

| |

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original script called for the Guster song "All the Way up to Heaven" to be used in the "car" scene that used the Guster song "Rainy Day" instead. See more »

Goofs

At the sunbathing scene with Sam and Alyssa, the suntan lotion spot on Sam's left cheek appears and disappears. See more »

Quotes

George: I always thought of myself as a house. I was always what I lived in. It didn't need to be big; it didn't need to be beautiful; it just needed to be mine. I became what I was meant to be. I built myself a life... I built myself a house.
See more »

Connections

Edited into The Making of 'Life as a House' (2001) See more »

Soundtracks

Sweet Dreams
Written by David A. Stewart (as Dave Stewart) and Annie Lennox
Performed by Marilyn Manson
Courtesy of Nothing Records/Interscope Records
Used by arrangement with Universal Music Group and Under license from Universal Music Enterprises
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

From a Different Perspective
19 November 2001 | by (New York, N.Y.) – See all my reviews

As predictable as this film is, it moved me in many ways. I am a single father, 58 years old, whose life largely revolves around a wonderful twelve year old boy. He'd better not go down the road of Kevin Kline's teenage kid or I'll kill him! (just kidding-don't call Child Protective Services just yet).

California Cinematic Dreamin' aside, the people here are real. Their vulnerabilities are in the open and they deal with each other as best they can. Kline's son is confused about more than his sexuality, far more. His first girlfriend accepts him and, more importantly, her own sexuality, with a maturity in no way undermined by a delightfully playful demeanor.

As in similar films, the viewer has to suspend reality when the doomed character accepts his fate with no mention of palliative, much less curative, medical intervention. His condition is never fully described but a quick, distant shot of murmuring doctors examining x-rays (x-rays? No MRIs, CAT scans or PET scans in a CA hospital?) brings home that the architectural model builder has hit a brick wall.

The cast is first-rate - everyone plays his/her role convincingly.

The message of the film is, of course, the enduring need for community. And this celluloid community is moving and loving. A truly fine film. (Yep, I cried into my popcorn.)


72 of 81 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
this sounds very jerky but is my one criticism of this great movie ms-catamaran
Jacking off in an armoire tiffy_lee
The whole shower scene? brialashee
Emo confusion foure
scene that moved me the most Angel_Of_My_Heart
What's wrong with Sam? rayment8771
Discuss Life as a House (2001) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?