Like K-PAX, the actors in Life as a House are getting far better reviews than the movie as a whole, particularly Kevin Kline, who plays an architect recently diagnosed with terminal cancer. Jack Mathews comments in the New York Daily News: "Kline, who has shed some serious weight from an already lean body for the role, is a fright to look at and his performance is first-rate. He will break your heart, while the rest of the movie will just make you sick." But Michael Wilmington in the Chicago Tribune, while acknowledging the film's manipulations, suggests audiences will come away pleased. Of Kline, Wilmington writes: "This is his best movie. Life as a House is more than just another formula emotion-wash. ... The overall situation may be contrived -- and the very last scene may strike you as an ;author's message; of shameless nakedness. But this movie lets you feel something." Also receiving positive notices is the young actor Hayden Christensen, who portrays Kline's son. Phillip Wuntch writes in the Dallas Morning News: "Kline has long been one of Hollywood's most underrated and versatile actors, so the revelation here is Christensen, who is playing Anakin Skywalker in the next Star Wars movie. He cuts through the clichés so deftly, it's clear he's a force to be reckoned with."