Review/opinion

'All My Life'

“All My Life” tells — with some artistic license — the true story of Solomon Chau (“Glee” alumnus Harry Shum Jr.) and Jennifer Carter (Jessica Rothe), a couple who moved up their wedding plans after one of them was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2015.
“All My Life” tells — with some artistic license — the true story of Solomon Chau (“Glee” alumnus Harry Shum Jr.) and Jennifer Carter (Jessica Rothe), a couple who moved up their wedding plans after one of them was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2015.

From watching "Happy Death Day," it's easy to get a sense that Jessica Rothe has more to offer than mediocre horror films are willing to give her. "All My Life" indicates she can do more than scream and look embarrassed.

This time she's playing another college student, but Jennifer Carter isn't dodging serial killers this time. She's frustrated because her forthcoming psychology degree seems to offer little more than "debt accumulation."

Fortunately, her pals won't let her mope her way through school and take her to a bar where she meets a creative young man named Solomon "Sol" Chau (Harry Shum Jr.), who knows all the cool places in town and can out-cook most of the professional chefs in the city.

Before euphoria becomes the couple's eternal status, the health-conscious Sol discovers that liver cancer is indifferent to his rigorous, careful lifestyle. Despite some initially promising treatments, it becomes obvious the two might not get to spend much more time together.

Realizing the clock is ticking, the couple's pals work diligently to give the couple a wedding their modest incomes couldn't begin to afford. Because Sol and Jennifer's friends are so crucial to the story, it might have been helpful if Todd Rosenberg's script had fleshed them out a little more. "Saturday Night Live" alumnus Jay Pharoah manages to leave an impression, but the rest seem to disappear if you blink.

Fortunately, the core relationship is as believable as it is touching. Sol and Jennifer are indeed good for each other and grow and improve by being together. The two may have been an ideal match, but Rosenberg includes plenty of moments when Sol's illness crushed the two emotionally. Their love seems real, but so does their suffering.

It doesn't take much for cancer to seem awful, but here the devastation seems even more heartbreaking even if we don't get to see Shum buried in makeup so that he appears sufficiently wan.

The video of the real couple at the end of the movie indicates that an almost pornographic display of Sol's illness in the hospital wouldn't have been true to their experiences. Simply letting us know he's gone is enough.

Marc Meyers, who helmed the oddly touching if disturbing "My Friend Dahmer," handles the story in a fairly straightforward manner. There's not much point in embellishing a tale about a likable couple that fate has wronged so badly. Star crossed love is hardly a new trope, but it still works because decent people still leave the world all too prematurely.

The title card that informs us a story is true is often a red herring. In many cases, the tale itself might have happened, but it wasn't interesting enough to deserve a film. In this case, the relationship needs more than a snapshot to preserve it.

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‘All My Life’

80 Cast: Jessica Rothe, Harry Shum Jr., Jay Pharoah, Marielle Scott, Kyle Allen, Ever Carradine, Josh Brener, Chrissie Fit

Director: Marc Meyers

Rating: PG-13, for brief language

Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes

Playing theatrically.

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