Based on a Stephen King story (so you know there'll be something creepy...), this is a story told in three parts, in reverse chronology.
Part one sees society falling apart due to a (largely unexplained) apocalypse. As the lights go out all that remains is an enigmatic viral marketing campaign thanking Chuck Krantz for 39 wonderful years.
In part two, set a few months earlier, we get to meet Chuck, a boring accountant who suddenly launches into a street dance inspired by a busker, and hints at the disappointments of his past.
The meat of the tale, such as there is, lies in the final, and longest, segment, when we see Chuck's childhood. Brought up by his grandparents, given a love of dance, he is surely going to be a star...
In the end there's a message. Or you can take one if you choose to. Individuals are special and should feel so. Something like that. Carpe Diem. Something like that. It's not really clear. This confusion, a heavy handed narration, and overuse of coincidence to link the 3 segments, leave an unstaisfactory feeling.
Which is a shame, as there are some great individual performances, notably Chiwetel Ejiofor in part 1, as the man confused by rapidly unfolding events, a man we can all identify with. And there are some very entertaining scenes, like the adult Chuck (Tom Hiddleston) dancing to a street drummer. But the whole is so much less htan the parts.
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