Life

"From rebel to icon"

2015 1h 52m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 378

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In 1955, young photographer Dennis Stock develops a close bond with actor James Dean while shooting pictures of the rising Hollywood star.

“From rebel to icon”

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Cast

Robert Pattinson
Dennis Stock
Dane DeHaan
James Dean
Joel Edgerton
John Morris
Ben Kingsley
Jack Warner
Kelly McCreary
Eartha Kitt
Kristian Bruun
Roger Love
Lauren Gallagher
Natalie Wood
Kendal Rae
Messy Actress

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Anton Corbijn
Writers: Luke Davies
Languages: English
Countries: Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 10% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 11 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 4 countries: Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Anton Corbijn, shot by Charlotte Bruus Christensen. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Owen Pallett. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Nick Fenton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan and Joel Edgerton carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "From rebel to icon".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Anton Corbijn directs. Charlotte Bruus Christensen behind the camera. Owen Pallett scores. Nick Fenton cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 10% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 11 years ago.
3International production across 4 countries: Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, United States of America.
4Directed by Anton Corbijn, shot by Charlotte Bruus Christensen. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Owen Pallett. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Nick Fenton shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Robert Pattinson and Dane DeHaan and Joel Edgerton carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "From rebel to icon".
9IMDB entry: tt2948840 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Charlotte Bruus Christensen
Original score: Owen Pallett
Editing: Nick Fenton
Production design: Anastasia Masaro
Costume design: Gersha Phillips
Makeup / hair: Donna J. Anderson
Runtime: 112 min · 1h 52m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $12,000,000
Box office: $1,231,606
Return: 10% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Life (2015)

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Anton Corbijn

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Reno2016-05-14
★ 5/10
The early days of James Dean in the filmdom. It was based on the real life story of a young Hollywood star, especially during his early days of the acting career. In the 50s when a photojournalist was looking for a break, he ended up doing a story on James Dean. Initially who hated him, later gives a nod for the interview and so this story begins that focused on the time they spent together. A simple story, but a very long film. It was neither inspiring nor annoying. It was just like anybody's story around us, that's really boring. Because he was kind of an unfriendly and his tale that told in this film was very dull. Maybe if you like James Dean and his films, especially interested to learn about him, then you might like this film. But to me this biopic was just okay. Neither I enjoyed it, nor disliked. Yet to see his films which are very small numbers, then I might change my mind about this film, so till then what I said will remains. 5/10
CinemaSerf2025-11-20
★ 6/10
Maybe the lawyers advised that a biopic on James Dean’s later life might have been too risky, so they instead alighted on this rather uninteresting phase of his life and coupled with two really unremarkable performances leave us with something that could hardly be more soporific. It’s Dane DeHaan who is the enigmatic young starlet being considered by acclaimed director Nicholas Ray (Peter Lucas) for the part that might define him - assuming studio boss Sam Goldwyn (Sir Ben Kingsley) buys in, but the waiting game is proving nerve-wracking for Dean. Meantime, at a similar stage in his own career is budding magazine photographer Dennis Stock (Robert Pattinson) who’s convinced his editor (Joel Edgerton) that a photo assignment on this aspiring actor is a good idea. Both men have their fair share of baggage but perhaps that might serve to draw them together and befriend, even trust, the other? They do say a photograph speaks a thousand words so maybe at this point we should just spool on to the end where we see some of the world-famous, moodily framed, monochrome pictures of the cigarette smoking Dean and just skip this unimpressive and dialogue heavy outing for two actors who’ve not the slightest degree of chemistry between them as this positively plods along for an almost two hours that tells us virtually nothing new about Dean, and showcases just how mediocre an actor Pattinson is when he’s not just meant to be eye candy. It’s not so much about life, more about dearth - of just about everything interesting.