The Time of Your Life (1976)

IMDb plot summary: William Saroyan's Pulitzer Prize-winning play revolves around the denizens of a San Francisco bar in 1939.

Directed by Kirk Browning. Stars Benjamin Hendrickson, Richard Ooms, and Nicolas Surovy.

The Time of Your Life is a TV-filmed version of based on William Saroyan’s Pulitzer Prize–winning play, which unfolds entirely in a San Francisco bar, where a rotating cast of eccentric characters drift in and out, sharing jokes, heartbreaks, and philosophical musings. The script strings together dozens of little plot threads -- some touching, some strange, some funny. It's very episodic, more like an anthology of vaguely connected scenes than a complete story. It’s also unmistakably theatrical, for better or worse. The dialogue is witty and sharp as is familiar from cleverly crafted stage scripts, but the staging often feels static on screen. I find a lot of charm in the familiarity of the staginess, but there are times where I also feel the distance when that staginess is translated to film. It mostly makes me think how much more engaging this would be on a stage.

How it entered my Flickchart:

🎥 The Time of Your Life (1976)

📊 Ranked #1310/4071 on my Flickchart

🎯 Flickscore™: 70

beat Wristcutters: A Love Story (#2032 → #2034)

lost to My Name is Joe (#1014 → #1013)

beat The Green Knight (#1521 → #1546)

lost to Passing (#1267 → #1257)

beat The Black Phone (#1394 → #1523)

lost to Inland Empire (#1330 → #1326)

lost to Decision to Leave (#1362 → #1361)

lost to Aliens (#1378 → #1375)

beat Bridge of Spies (#1386 → #1620)

lost to I, Tonya (#1382 → #1362)

lost to The Great Mouse Detective (#1384 → #1382)

lost to Pain and Glory (#1385 → #1305)