Life Itself Review: 2 Ups & 8 Downs
Ups
2. Lots of Bob Dylan Is Never A Bad Thing
From the very opening of the film, before anything is even on the screen, Bob Dylan's music plays a huge role in this film.
More specifically, Bob Dylan's 1997 album Time Out of Mind plays a huge role in this film and let's be honest, it's never a bad thing to get a whole lot of Dylan. While his music may be often painfully misused in this film, it's still genuinely great music and the thought that Fogelman was at least trying to do right by his audience and introduce younger fans to the genius that is Bob Dylan is heart-warming.
It also fiercely defends Dylan's song, Make You Feel My Love, which is great so that's a plus. It's weird that Fogelman thinks that the ultimate word on the song is "it was even covered by Garth Brooks" but we're letting bygones be bygones here.