What would you do if you only had a week to live? Here's a tip: don't watch "Life or Something Like It".
Taking a break out from raiding tombs as Lara Croft, Angelina Jolie is on her best behaviour in this charmless romantic comedy about the foibles of ambition and success.
When Seattle TV reporter Lanie Kerrigan (Jolie) interviews a homeless man-turned-prophet for a news story, he tells her that she only has seven days left to live.
At first she doesn't believe him, but when the rest of his predictions come true, she starts to re-evaluate her career, her relationship with her top baseball player fianc茅 (Christian Kane), and her definition of what she wants out of life.
So far, so formulaic. Falling back in love with scruffy cameraman Pete (Edward Burns), Lanie realizes that success isn't everything and that life needs to be enjoyed, not pencilled into one's diary. Yawn.
As a romantic comedy, "Life or Something Like It" suffers from the sheer lack of chemistry between Jolie and Burns. These two would be hard pressed to generate enough sparks to illuminate a flashlight.
Which means that the real star of this show is Jolie... or rather, her ridiculous Marilyn Monroe-style hairdo, which manages to out-act everyone without a single split end.
At times Stephen Herek seems to think he might be about to pull off a media satire in the vein of his Eddie Murphy vehicle "Holy Man", but it never materialises.
Instead, there's lots of digs at career women for being too ambitious, and plenty of gym scenes (inserted for no other reason than to get AJ's ample assets into lycra).
Ultimately, as Lanie recognises that she really is facing the end, it's hard to resist shouting "Hurry up!" at the screen.
Life or Something Like It (2003)
