Life in a Day 2011 Movie Review

Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland and State of Play) and many others co-direct the often times beautiful documentary "Life in a Day." Macdonald and the producers sent out a world wide request asking anybody and everybody to video document their lives over the course of one day. That one day was July 24th, 2010.

I find myself wondering what questions Macdonald was asking himself while he waited for footage come in, "Will I get very many responses? What kind of nasty or disturbing footage will I end up receiving?" "What type of film will this be?" It would be difficult to put that power into the hands of strangers, but I think that's what makes this so interesting.

"Life in a Day" received over 80,000 submissions equaling 4,500 hours of footage. Imagine sifting through all of that material and narrowing it down to 90 minutes. That is a task I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. Macdonald pulled it off and somehow delivers a pretty and interesting 90 minute film.

The end product is compiled of what feels like hundreds of different people telling their stories or a very brief segment of their stories. The direction the film takes is mainly trying to show that no matter where you live, race, sex, or ethnicity, we all have similarities as well as differences. It avoids showing the "Jackass" crazy antics that I assume were submitted and instead shows regular people in their everyday life. This makes for a much less entertaining story but a much more real and genuine look at mankind. A fifteen year old boy documents the first time he shaves his face and a young woman discusses how she doesn't feel that she has anything to offer the film, showing her insecurities. These moments are easily the strongest.

"Life in a Day" is slow at times and does feel more like a project then a movie, but it is an interesting watch and a great conversation piece. If you have ever wondered what else is occurring at the same moment that you are being active or even sitting around contemplating things, then you might find this a satisfactory answer. (Especially if you were contemplating things on July 24th, 2010)

Rating 7.5/10