Life in a Day

Almost inevitably, a film made from these snippets is less than the sum of its parts.

This pointillistic view of everyday people never quite gels as a movie, but it has its point-and-click moments.

What I took away were some individual moments from people whose lives I wish had played out more.

Give Macdonald and crew credit for picking out good, clear, telling contrasts, and not sweating potential heavy-handedness.

It strives awfully hard for depth but, more often than not, comes off too shallow.

There are dull spots, as with any other day, yet "Life" aims to be, and occasionally is, like a YouTube-y "Our Town," giving a sense of what it is to be alive on planet Earth.

All too well summed up by its closing bit, where a young woman bemoans how she hoped for an eventful day but ended up with another rather mundane one.

The many windows into different lives, capturing moments humorous and sad, ordinary and momentous, build into quite a moving film.

It's best to simply ignore its corporate branding and accept the spirit of deeper understanding and celebration of the project's intention.

With director Kevin Macdonald finding a rhythm among the myriad footage submitted, this honest, funny and touching doco is an incredible achievement.

You walk out with a good feeling, having seen a lot of humanity in the almost raw.

It's a feel-good movie in that sense, affirmative without being sentimental or exploitative.