“The Life of Chuck” doesn’t have any demonic clowns, killer pets or telekinetic kids. It’s also, in its own way, the most amazing story Stephen King ever told, a brilliant novella that begins at the end of the world and winds up in a haunted attic.
Fortunately, “Chuck” (★★★★ out of four; rated R; in select theaters June 6, nationwide June 13) is made by a filmmaker who gets King like none other. Writer/director Mike Flanagan (“Doctor Sleep,” “Gerald’s Game”) captures the uplifting and bittersweet qualities of King’s prose and brings his own gift for character depth to the story of Charles Krantz, played by four talented thespians (including Tom Hiddleston).
Flanagan, also to his credit, goes all in on the legendary author’s unconventional storytelling, a lifetime that unfurls in three acts and in reverse.
The first centers not on Chuck but schoolteacher Marty Anderson (Chiwetel Ejiofor). He’s making his way through pointless parent-teacher conferences even as the end times have arrived – the Internet’s down, the world’s falling apart, etc. – and people are dealing in whatever ways they can. Some walk around like zombies waiting for the sky to fall (literally or figuratively), and people go to jobs though there's nothing for them to do.
