Movie Analysis for Life as a House

Life As A House was produced in 2001, and the film’s take on cancer and how people deal with illness is even more relevant today. Cancer strikes more and more lives every day. Some people are provided with a miracle and battle the cancer, while others are given a few short months with their loved ones. The awful thing about cancer is that it doesn’t care who you are, how many years you’ve lived, or how many people you are responsible for. Life As A House revolves around a 17 year-old-boy named Sam. Sam is a very angry teenager that experiments with and also heavily uses a variety of drugs such as marijuana and pharmaceuticals. At this point in his life, Sam resides with his mother, step-father, and their two children and wants absolutely nothing to do with any of them. He doesn’t follow rules, nor does he have any respect for himself or anyone else. Covered in piercings and sporting blue dye in his hair, Sam seems to do what he wants without any concern for the consequences his actions may cause. Robin, Sam’s mother is battling two different struggles in her life. For one, her son Sam has become so difficult to deal with that she finds herself not loving him anymore. Being a mother to him is something she is not sure how to do. Secondly, her current husband, Peter, is more concerned with his job and being a tough man than loving Robin and his children. Finally, Sam’s father George lives alone in a rundown shack overlooking the ocean. He barely sees Sam and isn’t a very active father. After losing his job, George finds out he has an aggressive form of cancer and has only a few months to live. With the time he has left, George decides that he wants to become closer to his son and build the dream house he has always wanted. George tells Robin that he will take Sam for the summer even though Sam is planning to go to Tahoe with his friends from school to party. Sam isn’t given a choice and moves into the garage with George, as George has already begun tearing