Someplace amid the mounds of “content material” on Netflix’s servers are some fairly good romantic comedies. The streamer is not too dangerous with regards to this explicit style, providing all the pieces from beloved ’90s classics comparable to “Notting Hill” to extra trendy hits comparable to Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney’s frisky and enjoyable “Anybody However You.” Sadly, “Life or One thing Like It” in all probability will not be making any lists of one of the best Netflix rom-coms anytime quickly — although there could be hope but.
Commercial
What on earth is “Life or One thing Like It?” Nicely, that form of will get to the difficulty with this film, which is that no one noticed it when it debuted in theaters again in 2002. Starring Angelina Jolie and Edward Burns, the movie follows a reporter who interviews a supposed prophet, solely to be instructed that her demise is imminent and that she’s losing her life. Sure, it is a rom-com, I promise. Directed by Stephen Herek (“Invoice & Ted’s Glorious Journey,” “The Mighty Geese”), “Life or One thing Like It” was not solely a business dud but in addition a essential one, marking a low level in its star and director’s profession.
Now, nonetheless, Jolie’s forgotten rom-com is receiving considerably of a reprieve. The movie is rising up the Netflix charts world wide, and is at the moment dominating within the U.S., the place streaming viewers are apparently making the case for this film to be thought-about among the many most interesting rom-coms on the platform.
Commercial
Netflix viewers are falling for Life or One thing Like It
In “Life or One thing Like It,” Angelina Jolie performs tv reporter Lanie Kerrigan, who’s shocked to be instructed by Jack (Tony Shalhoub), a fellow who claims to be a prophet, that her life is basically meaningless and that she had only one week to dwell. The formidable Lanie immediately reevaluates her priorities and units out to attempt to dwell a extra significant existence — one thing that, as you would possibly anticipate, results in her starting a romance with Pete Scanlon (Edward Burns), a cameraman who exhibits Lanie a brand new approach to strategy her life.
Commercial
Critics might not have been impressed with any of that in 2002, however Netflix viewers, who just lately swooned for Sofia Carson’s new rom-com, definitely are. “Life or One thing Like It” arrived on Netflix on April 13, 2025 and instantly brought about a stir, hitting the streamer’s charts worldwide the next day. FlixPatrol, a web site that tracks and aggregates streaming viewership knowledge, reviews that the film debuted at quantity three in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden on April 14, however solely managed quantity six in the US. Nonetheless, on April 15, “Life or One thing Like It” made a run to take the primary spot stateside. The film additionally managed to rise to quantity two in seven different nations and, on the time of writing, is charting in 13 nations worldwide, together with the UK (the place it is taken the quantity 4 spot).
Commercial
How will this now 23-year-old rom-com fare going ahead? Time will inform, but it surely’s on the verge of breaking into the worldwide prime 10, so will probably be attention-grabbing to see whether or not “Life or One thing Like It” continues to carry viewers’ consideration and turns into a real world hit virtually twenty years after it bombed in theaters.
Is Life or One thing Like It price watching?
When “Life or One thing Like It” debuted on April 26, 2002, it was met with a frosty response. The movie made simply $16.8 million on a $40 million funds, dropping twentieth Century Fox, because it was recognized previous to the 2019 Disney acquisition, fairly a bit of cash. Critics added to the movie’s misfortunes, too. The film has a 28% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with The Observer’s Rex Reed being notably forthright in his evaluation of the movie as being “Formulaic, delusional and about as correct an outline of life in tv information (or one thing prefer it) as a Pillsbury bake-off.” Roger Ebert wasn’t far more impressed, writing “That is an ungainly film, ill-fitting, with its elbows protruding the place the knees needs to be.”
Commercial
The movie proved to be an actual nadir for just about everybody concerned. After “Life or One thing Like It” and its lackluster debut, Stephen Herek directed “Man of the Home,” a 2005 comedy starring Tommy Lee Jones as a Texas Ranger who goes undercover as an assistant coach to be able to regulate a bunch of school cheerleaders who witnessed a homicide. Hey, guess what? “Man of the Home” wasn’t excellent both, and Herek would thereafter work totally on TV films and direct-to-DVD fare comparable to “Into the Blue 2: The Reef.” In 2024, nonetheless, he did direct Lindsay Lohan’s Christmas film “Our Little Secret,” which dominated the Netflix charts upon its launch.
Now, nonetheless, it appears sufficient time has handed that “Life or One thing Like It” is due for reappraisal. Not solely is the film topping the Netflix charts, however modern evaluations on Letterboxd are additionally extra optimistic, suggesting Jolie and Herek had been merely forward of their time. The one approach to discover out for certain is to hitch within the Netflix renaissance and provides this one a go.
Commercial