Angelia Jolie’s Forgotten Rom-Com Flop Is Finding Fans On Netflix Two Decades Later

Somewhere amid the mounds of “content” on Netflix’s servers are some pretty good romantic comedies. The streamer isn’t too bad when it comes to this particular genre, offering everything from beloved ’90s classics such as “Notting Hill” to more modern hits such as Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney’s frisky and fun “Anyone But You.” Sadly, “Life or Something Like It” probably won’t be making any lists of the best Netflix rom-coms anytime soon — though there might be hope yet.

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What on earth is “Life or Something Like It?” Well, that sort of gets to the issue with this movie, which is that nobody saw it when it debuted in theaters back in 2002. Starring Angelina Jolie and Edward Burns, the film follows a reporter who interviews a supposed prophet, only to be told that her demise is imminent and that she’s wasting her life. Yes, this is a rom-com, I promise. Directed by Stephen Herek (“Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” “The Mighty Ducks”), “Life or Something Like It” was not only a commercial dud but also a critical one, marking a low point in its star and director’s career.

Now, however, Jolie’s forgotten rom-com is receiving somewhat of a reprieve. The film is rising up the Netflix charts around the world, and is currently dominating in the U.S., where streaming viewers are apparently making the case for this movie to be considered among the finest rom-coms on the platform.

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In “Life or Something Like It,” Angelina Jolie plays television reporter Lanie Kerrigan, who is shocked to be told by Jack (Tony Shalhoub), a fellow who claims to be a prophet, that her life is essentially meaningless and that she had just one week to live. The ambitious Lanie suddenly reevaluates her priorities and sets out to try to live a more meaningful existence — something that, as you might expect, leads to her beginning a romance with Pete Scanlon (Edward Burns), a cameraman who shows Lanie a new way to approach her life.

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Critics may not have been impressed with any of that in 2002, but Netflix viewers, who recently swooned for Sofia Carson’s new rom-com, certainly are. “Life or Something Like It” arrived on Netflix on April 13, 2025 and immediately caused a stir, hitting the streamer’s charts worldwide the following day. FlixPatrol, a site that tracks and aggregates streaming viewership data, reports that the movie debuted at number three in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden on April 14, but only managed number six in the United States. However, on April 15, “Life or Something Like It” made a run to take the number one spot stateside. The movie also managed to rise to number two in seven other countries and, at the time of writing, is charting in 13 countries worldwide, including the United Kingdom (where it’s taken the number four spot).

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How will this now 23-year-old rom-com fare going forward? Time will tell, but it’s on the verge of breaking into the worldwide top 10, so it will be interesting to see whether “Life or Something Like It” continues to hold viewers’ attention and becomes a genuine global hit almost two decades after it bombed in theaters.

When “Life or Something Like It” debuted on April 26, 2002, it was met with a frosty response. The film made just $16.8 million on a $40 million budget, losing 20th Century Fox, as it was known prior to the 2019 Disney acquisition, quite a bit of money. Critics added to the film’s misfortunes, too. The movie has a 28% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with The Observer’s Rex Reed being particularly forthright in his assessment of the film as being “Formulaic, delusional and about as accurate a depiction of life in television news (or something like it) as a Pillsbury bake-off.” Roger Ebert wasn’t much more impressed, writing “This is an ungainly movie, ill-fitting, with its elbows sticking out where the knees should be.”

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The film proved to be a real nadir for pretty much everyone involved. After “Life or Something Like It” and its lackluster debut, Stephen Herek directed “Man of the House,” a 2005 comedy starring Tommy Lee Jones as a Texas Ranger who goes undercover as an assistant coach in order to keep an eye on a group of college cheerleaders who witnessed a murder. Hey, guess what? “Man of the House” wasn’t very good either, and Herek would thereafter work primarily on TV movies and direct-to-DVD fare such as “Into the Blue 2: The Reef.” In 2024, however, he did direct Lindsay Lohan’s Christmas movie “Our Little Secret,” which dominated the Netflix charts upon its release.

Now, however, it seems enough time has passed that “Life or Something Like It” is due for reappraisal. Not only is the movie topping the Netflix charts, but contemporary reviews on Letterboxd are also more positive, suggesting Jolie and Herek were simply ahead of their time. The only way to find out for sure is to join in the Netflix renaissance and give this one a go.

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