''That's Life!'' is a 1986 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by

Blake Edwards Blake Edwards (born William Blake Crump; July 26, 1922 – December 15, 2010) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Edwards began his career in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon began writing screenplays and radio s ...

and starring Jack Lemmon and Julie Andrews. The film was made independently by Edwards using largely his own finances and was distributed by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. ''That's Life!'' was shot in Edwards and his wife Andrews' own beachside home in Malibu and features their family in small roles, including Edwards' daughter Jennifer Edwards, Andrews' daughter

Emma Walton Hamilton Emma Katherine Walton Hamilton (née Walton; 27 November 1962) is a British-American children's book author, theatrical director, and actress. She is an instructor in the MFA program at Stony Brook Southampton, where she serves as Director of ...

and Lemmon's son Chris Lemmon portraying Andrews and Lemmon's adult offspring, while the senior Lemmon's wife

Felicia Farr Felicia Farr (born Olive Dines; October 4, 1932) is a American former actress and model Early years Farr was born in Westchester County, New York. She attended Erasmus Hall High School and studied sociology at Penn State. Career Farr beg ...

portrays a fortune teller. Because of the film's independent status, many of the cast and crew were paid below union-level wages, resulting in the

American Society of Cinematographers The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), founded in Hollywood in 1919, is a cultural, educational, and professional organization that is neither a labor union nor a guild. The society was organized to advance the science and art of cinem ...

picketing the film during production and taking an advertisement in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' in protest. As a result, the original director of photography,

Harry Stradling Jr. Harry Stradling Jr. (January 7, 1925 – October 17, 2017) was a two-time Oscar-nominated American cinematographer and the son of cinematographer Harry Stradling. Early years Stradling was born in Yonkers, New York. Career He worked on four Bl ...

, was forced to quit the film and was subsequently replaced by Anthony B. Richmond, a British cinematographer.

Plot summary

Harvey Fairchild is a wealthy, Malibu-based architect who is turning 60 and suffering from a form of male menopause. He feels aches and pains, real or imaginary, and seems unhappy with his professional and personal life. Harvey's patient wife, famous singer Gillian Fairchild, tries to cheer him with family get-togethers and an elaborately planned birthday party this weekend. But she secretly has worries of her own, a lesion on her throat, possibly

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

ous, the biopsy results which she won't get until after the weekend. Whining his way through day after day, Harvey snaps at his pregnant daughter Megan and makes rude remarks to his actor son Josh. The miserable Harvey is furious with a client named Janice Kern who can't stop revising her plans for a magnificent house Harvey has been building, but he, wanting to get over his depression, succumbs to her sexual advances, although they don't go through with it solely because he can't get it up. Although a lapsed Catholic, he tries going to confession, only to discover that the priest to whom he is confessing is "Phony" Tony Baragone, his Notre Dame roommate and an old rival. He also consults a local fortune teller, Madame Carrie, sex with whom leaves Harvey with a severe case of

crabs Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

(pubic lice). Gillian bravely hides her cancer fear from the family, but finally, overcome with emotion, she confides in her friend and neighbor, Holly. Harvey threatens to spoil the birthday party for everybody. He is in such a foul mood that just because a friend named Belmont tells him a depressing story about an illness, he amuses himself by introducing Belmont to the crab-infected fortune teller, who, by coincidence, Gillian has hired to entertain at the party. Gillian warns her husband that he is going to lose everything if he continues to behave this way. During his party, Gillian's doctor arrives to inform her that the biopsy test results are negative and she is going to be all right. She takes Harvey aside to let him know just how precious life really can be.

Cast

* Jack Lemmon as Harvey Fairchild * Julie Andrews as Gillian Fairchild *

Sally Kellerman Sally Clare Kellerman (June 2, 1937 – February 24, 2022) was an American actress and singer whose acting career spanned 60 years. Her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in Robert Altman's film '' M*A*S*H'' (1970) earned her an Oscar n ...

as Holly Parrish *

Robert Loggia Salvatore "Robert" Loggia ( , ; January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Jagged Edge'' (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for ...

as Father Baragone * Jennifer Edwards as Megan Fairchild Bartlet * Rob Knepper as Steve Larwin *

Matt Lattanzi Matthew Vincent Lattanzi (born February 1, 1959) is an American former actor and dancer. He is most commonly recognized as the first husband of singer and actress Dame Olivia Newton-John, and for his acting in films such as ''My Tutor'' and the s ...

as Larry Bartlet * Chris Lemmon as Josh Fairchild *

Cynthia Sikes Cynthia Sikes Yorkin (born January 2, 1954) is an American actress known for her work on ''St. Elsewhere'' and ''Blade Runner 2049.'' Life and career Cynthia Sikes was born Cynthia Lee Sikes in Coffeyville, Kansas, in 1954. Early in her career ...

as Janice Kern *

Dana Sparks ''Falcon Crest'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired for nine seasons on CBS from December 4, 1981, to May 17, 1990. The series revolves around the feuding factions of the wealthy Gioberti/Channing family in the California ...

as Fanny Ward * Emma Walton as Kate Fairchild *

as Madame Carrie *

Theodore Wilson Theodore Rosevelt "Teddy" Wilson (December 10, 1943 – July 21, 1991) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for his recurring roles as Earl the Postman on the ABC sitcom '' That's My Mama'', and Sweet Daddy Wil ...

as Corey *

Jordan Christopher Jordan Christopher (October 23, 1940 – January 21, 1996) was an American actor and singer. He was the lead singer of The Wild Ones, who recorded the original version of the rock classic " Wild Thing" after Christopher had left the band. Earl ...

as Dr. Keith Romanis

Reception

''That's Life'' grossed $4 million against a $10 million budget making this a box office failure. The film's critical reviews were mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 53% based on reviews from 15 critics, with an average rating of 5.80/10.

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:That's Life! (film) 1986 films 1986 comedy-drama films 1986 independent films American comedy-drama films American independent films Columbia Pictures films 1980s English-language films Films about depression Films about marriage Films directed by Blake Edwards Films scored by Henry Mancini Films set in Malibu, California Films shot in Los Angeles County, California Films with screenplays by Blake Edwards 1980s American films