My Life (film)
My Life (film)
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My Life (film)

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My Life (film)

My Life is a 1993 American drama film written, directed and co-produced by Bruce Joel Rubin, starring Michael Keaton and Nicole Kidman. With a PG-13 rating, this film's worldwide box office gross was $54 million.

Bob Ivanovich, a young Ukrainian-American, prays one night for a circus to be erected in his backyard the following day. After school the next day, he runs home eagerly, followed by his friends. To his disappointment, no circus awaits. Angrily, Bob retreats to the closet in his room, his personal retreat space.

Bob has shunned his Ukrainian-born parents due to their customs and traditions, leading him to move far from his family in Detroit and change his last name to Jones. 30 years later, he now runs a Los Angeles public relations firm. Bob is happily married to Gail, who is pregnant with their first child. He is horrified to be diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer as he may not live to see their baby born.

Bob begins to make home movies, so his son can know who his father was, showing him how to cook spaghetti, how to drive, etc. He also begins to visit the Chinese healer Mr. Ho who urges him to listen to his heart. It is calling Bob to forgive and life is always giving him invitations if he would only listen. At his wife's urging, they fly to his hometown Detroit to attend his brother Paul's traditional Ukrainian wedding.

While in the area, Bob visits his childhood home. They also attempt to mend fences with his estranged family, which does not go well. Bob criticizes his brother for not moving to California like he did, and his father resents Bob's moving thousands of miles away and changing his name.

Bob returns to California with a heavy heart, sadly telling his wife, "This is my last trip home." At his next visit to the healer, Mr. Ho advises him to go into his heart "soon." Bob teaches his son by camera how to shave, play basketball, and start a car by jumper cable.

Also confronting a childhood fear, Bob finally rides a formidable roller coaster (filmed on Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain). During the ride, a young companion urges him to let go of the railing as the descent begins, but Bob firmly holds on. (A metaphor for his fear of letting go of life.) He is living on borrowed time—beyond the date the doctors gave him, as he says to his wife after getting off the coaster, "Today is D-Day. Death Day. I was supposed to be dead by today."

Gail's contractions increase, and soon she is in the hospital to give birth to their baby. Bob and Gail have a happy time with their newborn Brian, but soon Bob's condition worsens, as now the cancer has reached his brain. Hospice care is arranged for him. Bob makes a final visit to Mr. Ho and asks him what the light is he keeps seeing. He replies it is "the life of the self" and urges him to get his "house in order (life and personal affairs)."

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