RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
RT's Blu-ray HQ
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | 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
  • Get this Movie
  • 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.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Sep 26, 2003 Limited

Box Office: $200,852

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

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Feb 24, 2004

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for My Life Without Me

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Intelligent and affecting as the film is, it buckles under the weight of overexplicitness, a tendency to say more than it needs to.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
09/26/03
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The movie is affecting, in its own quiet way, and beautifully acted.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
09/26/03
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This contemplative drama manages to dodge mawkish potholes to emerge as a strangely life-affirming work.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
09/26/03
Megan Lehmann
Megan Lehmann
New York Post

It's hard to take this movie seriously. It's the cinematic equivalent of dotting your i's with a big heart, a very youngish view of life and death in which everything is too neatly wrapped up with a bow.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
09/26/03
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The performances are determinedly low-key, and Ms. Coixet directs even the most charged scenes in a cool, almost affectless style. But the implicit narcissism of the film's title is embraced without really being examined.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
09/26/03
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A splendid cast, coupled with Isabel Coixet's deeply committed writing and direction, goes a long way to make this movie affecting to watch even it if doesn't hold up well to reflection once the lights go up.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/26/03
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

My Life Without Me would not work without [Sarah Polly].

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
09/26/03
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

Life constantly rises above the mundane, mainly because there's so much that's incredibly touching and believable about Polley's character.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
09/26/03
E! Online

What is most infuriating about this film is how the audience is expected to see Anne’s selfishness as some kind of personal heroism.

Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
09/26/03
Edward Havens
Edward Havens
FilmJerk.com

Writer-director Isabel Coixet and actress Sarah Polley elevate a story we think we've seen before into truly touching, human drama.

Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
09/26/03
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix

My Life Without Me is a bold and honest film about a young woman who is forced to number her days and to fill them with as much pleasure and meaning as she can.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
09/25/03
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

This isn't a poignant drama about courage and imagination -- it's a contrived fantasy about courage and imagination.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
09/25/03
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

Polley's performance is characteristically honest.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
09/24/03
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Transforming [Ann] into a woman who wants what she wants and reaches for it now, Polley not only subverts cliché but humanizes one of the most hard-heartedly malicious phrases in the American language -- trailer trash.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
09/24/03
Ella Taylor
Ella Taylor
L.A. Weekly

One of the oldest weepie plots in the book...doesn't quite transcend the essential staleness of its premise, but thanks to [Polley] it comes very close to doing so.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
09/24/03
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

A movie about terminal illness that even the Lifetime Television Network might reject.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
09/24/03
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A tearjerker that falters in its attempts at deep thoughts.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
09/23/03
Michael Miller
Michael Miller
Village Voice

My Life Without Me is definitely one of the better movies of the year, filled with great performances, introspection, emotional tangents, a deeper appreciation of the human spirit, and most vividly, a re-affirmation of the value of one's life.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
09/22/03
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

Ann is more an enigma than a heroine.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
09/16/03
Shirley Sealy
Shirley Sealy
Film Journal International

A ridiculously hokey premise carefully and thoughtfully made into shockingly compelling cinema.

Full Review Source: Planet Sick-Boy | comment Comment
09/15/03
Jon Popick
Jon Popick
Planet Sick-Boy
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
15% 15% 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
36% 36% Angels & Demons
68% 68% Funny People
25% 25% Four Christmases
45% 45% Shorts

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Total Recall

Total Recall

John Travolta's top reviewed movies

Disney Countdown

Disney Countdown

Look back on Disney's best animated movies!

RT's Gift Guide

RT's Gift Guide

Give the best movies, gear, and more!

What's Coming Out

What's Coming Out

Find movies for the holiday weekend!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • First Look (Sort Of) at New Nightmare's Freddy Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com
12
  • First Look at Shrek Forever After Source: USA Today
34
  • Woody Harrelson Will Battle Zombies in 3-D Source: Moviehole
16
  • 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
116
  • Idris Elba Joins Thor Source: Hollywood Reporter
112
  • Jackass 3D Coming in 2010? Source: Collider.com
32
  • 6 Reasons 'Twilight' Is Doomed Source: The Wrap
64
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: New Moon Shatters Records
176
  • Critics Consensus: New Moon Wanes
130
  • Total Recall: John Travolta's Best Movies
76
  • Total Recall: Star-Crossed Lovers
75
  • Weekly Ketchup: Idris Elba cast in Thor, more Spider-Man 4 rumors
58
  • Critics Consensus: Flee From Ninja Assassin
37
  • Friday Harvest: New Moon, Avatar, and more!
32
  • WB offers DVD to Blu-ray Trade-In Program
26
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: Angels & Demons, Funny People, and Superman
18
  • Five Favorite Films With Zombieland Director Ruben Fleischer
17
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
13
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
9
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
19
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
6
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
20
  • 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
Wes Anderson on Fox
Wes Anderson on Fox External Link

The director talks about puppetry perfection and his film, Fantastic Mr. Fox

Animated Oscar?
Animated Oscar? External Link

Hollywood.com ponders whether or not an animated film could win Best Picture.

TIME's Holiday Movie Preview
TIME's Holiday Movie Preview External Link

Richard Corliss previews the season's best offerings and hottest tickets.

Scenic Routes
Scenic Routes External Link

The AV Club's Mike D'Angelo airs his beefs with Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men.

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| 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.