If you read the Bible, you will note that the lives of those who earnestly follow God is not always the greatest.  This is true in the Old and New Testaments.  While their reward is in Heaven, and that should never be discounted, their time on Earth is seldom comfortable.  The prophets of the Old Testament were sent by God as a way of bringing people back to true worship.  If their audience listened and repented, then the doom predicted could be abated.  More often, though, these harbingers were mistreated for their words.  In the New Testament, God’s only Son was Crucified, and His followers nearly all met martyrs’ deaths while bringing the good news of Salvation.  This all reveals a sad truth that many do not want to heed God’s voice.  It is either not in keeping with the path they wish to follow, or it is too difficult.  We see these themes in today’s film, Life or Something Like It (2002), and I am happy to tell you about it.

As Lanie Kerrigan (Angelina Jolie) tells us at the beginning of Life or Something Like It, we do not always see things coming, which is another reason people rebel against God.  She is in a hospital dying and wondering if she would change anything she has done that has brought her to this point.  We are then treated to a flashback, which largely begins when she is a teenager (Amy Esterle).  Then, she was a shy, nerdy kid who felt she had to do more to be noticed.  As an adult, it is hard for her not to be noticed since she is an up-and-coming reporter in Seattle, Washington.  After doing a piece in the field, she is called to meet her boss, Dennis (Gregory Itzin), to discuss her future.  Namely, a position is opening for a national morning news show and he is going to submit her tape.  In order to make sure she is being shot properly, Dennis informs Lanie that she will be working with veteran cameraman Pete Scanlon (Edward Burns).  Lanie is not happy about this prospect because they have a fraught romantic history.  Also, she thinks he will be more of a distraction to her perfect life, particularly as it relates to her engagement to Seattle Mariners superstar Cal Cooper (Christian Kane).  Nonetheless, she submits to Dennis’ directive despite Pete behaving unprofessionally on their first shoot.  On their second, they interview a homeless person known as Prophet Jack (Tony Shalhoub).  He has such a sobriquet because he stands on busy streets with arms raised to Heaven and shouting predictions to passersby.  They mostly have to do with sports and weather, but before they go on camera, he tells Lanie that she will not get the position she seeks, and that she will die in one week.  Though she carries on with her current work, she cannot quite shake a foreboding feeling.  Her initial thought is to blame Pete for playing a prank, but he swears he did not do so and advises her to forget the matter.  She tries to do so, but that night, Prophet Jack’s prognostication regarding the football game, as well as the hail the next morning, prove his words correct.  Now worried, she finds where he sleeps and interrogates him.  She thinks that if he can get one forecast incorrect, she can then stop worrying about her impending doom.  To do so, he tells her that if there is no earthquake in San Francisco the following morning, then she can forget about it.  At first, the event is not reported at the proper time, but when it does come, she is depressed.  Neither her family or her fiancé proves helpful.  When Cal returns to the apartment he shares with Lanie, he finds someone who has stopped trying to keep up with appearances.  Already on guard, she asks him what he loves about her.  Unable to articulate a satisfactory answer, he takes her to do batting practice since that is what he does when faced with problematic situations.  The interaction shows her they are not right for each other, and they break up.  Following a night of drinking, she is missing in the morning for a story she is supposed to cover about a mass transit workers’ strike.  When she finally shows, it is evident that she is still feeling the effects of the alcohol from the previous night.  Nonetheless, she convinces Dennis and Pete that she is camera ready, despite her attire.  Instead of having a meaningful conversation, she leads everyone gathered in a rendition of “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones.  She apparently remembers little after this, including going home with Pete, which is a surprise for her when she awakens.  Nonetheless, they end up spending the day together, including with his son Tommy (Jesse James Rutherford).  That night, they sleep together, and it looks like the start of a relationship.  However, upon going into work together, the office surprises her with the announcement that she has gotten the promotion.  Yet, when she asks Pete to come with her, he refuses and tells her that she is chasing after things that are not important.  To her, though, it means that Prophet Jack was finally wrong, and she heads to New York without any fears.  Pete visits the homeless man to upbraid Prophet Jack for misleading people.  Prophet Jack reminds Pete that Lanie does not have the job yet before saying that an angel will fall.  This turns out to be a baseball player for the Anaheim Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels), but it is enough to convince Pete that Lanie is still in danger.  She makes it the set and delivers a live interview of celebrated reporter Deborah Connors (Stockard Channing).  Though Lanie goes off script, her work has the network immediately wanting more.  Instead, she says she is going home.  Upon walking out of the building, there is an altercation in the street involving a gun shot, which seriously wounds her.  Pete is there with her as she goes to the hospital, with life support machines indicating that she passes.

If you thought that Life or Something Like It would end with Lanie’s death, then you need to watch more movies.  Indeed, this was the main criticism of reviewers, that it was too predictable.  That is fair, but as a Catholic watching it, I had a different reaction.  There is a lot in it that is useful in living a fuller life, but then again, much of it is clichéd material that you have seen dozens of times in other places.  To summarize, Lanie has to learn that she is not in control of her life, and that she should appreciate more what she has instead of constantly trying to achieve.  A Christian would say that God gives us everything we need.  Rather, I would like to focus on Prophet Jack to a greater degree.  As I pointed out in the introduction, his words are received in a similar manner to Biblical figures.  Indeed, I see parallels with the cinematic prognosticator and those of Scripture.  More often, those in the Bible did not lead lavish lifestyles.  What separates Prophet Jack is that he takes money from people to be given prophecies, and they mainly deal with sports and weather. His Biblical counterparts predicted the fall of kingdoms and were often imprisoned and/or tortured for what they foretold.  The Bible also speaks of a sort of official office of prophets in the Old Testament, who would have likely expected a financial transaction for their services like Prophet Jack.  Yet, it was the more-well known prophets, the ones that lived apart because their words went against the grain of what people wanted to hear, that lived like Prophet Jack.  Those ones often did not want the duty to which God called them, which is why Prophet Jack tries to stick to sports or weather.  This way, fewer people are angry with him.  What God has to tell us is not always easy to hear, but it is always what we need.  Fighting against it is what gets us into trouble.

There is little trouble with Life or Something Like It.  For a film that deals with some weighty issues, it is pretty light hearted.  As the critics rightly point out, it is predictable.  I am also not a fan of the way in which sex is casually treated.  Otherwise, there are worse films you could watch.