“Life Itself” opened to negative reviews; now, star Oscar Isaac is addressing the criticism.
Isaac, 39, who plays lead character Will in the flick, told IndieWire at the New York Film Festival: “I was surprised that there seemed to be a full-on critical narrative to it. It’s some of the better work that I’ve done.”
The film, which also stars Olivia Wilde, was first criticized at the Toronto International Film Festival but the actor insisted he’s still “really proud of the places” that he went to while playing the part.
“And being able to sustain it, really dealing in a personal way with grief. It was insane that I even decided to do that, considering what I was in the middle of during that moment of my life.”
Isaac filmed the movie shortly after his mother’s death.
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The star then said of the response, “Having the reaction be overwhelmingly negative, there’s something for me that’s comforting about how it doesn’t really matter whether I think what I’ve done is great.
“My personal experience of what it is won’t reflect on how people see it. So the pressure’s off, man.”
“There’s nothing you can do to control it, how skilful you try to be with what you choose. Will it speak to somebody else? I don’t have to do that.”
Watch Isaac and his cast mates talk about his other movie, “At Eternity’s Gate”, at the NYFF in the clip below:
