Life as a House [Film]

[New Line Cinema 2002] has Kevin Kline building a house on the California coast as a vehicle for pulling the threads of his fleeting life together; in the process remaking his bond with his son and others. To the geographer and the searcher for life, the star of the film is the magnificent view of the Palos Verdes, California coastline. The house is built on a sweeping coastline of high cliffs and crashing waves. Shown on a wide theater screen, the view is breathtaking. The nature of the coast is integrated into the dialogue as jumping off the cliff into the crashing waves is made a significant part of several scenes. The encroachment of suburbia into a natural wonderland is stark. Such beauty on one side of the house and routine sameness on the other.