One of Netflix’s Top Movies Right Now Is a Forgotten Angelina Jolie Rom-Com

Angelina Jolie may be best known for her roles in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Wanted, and Maleficent, but it is a long-forgotten film in her expansive acting credits that is currently topping the Netflix streaming charts.

Life or Something Like It, the 2002 rom-com starring Jolie as a self-absorbed newscaster who who goes through an epiphany when she is told she is going to die, has skyrocketed on the streaming charts.

According to the most recent Netflix streaming data for the week ending Sunday, April 20, Life or Something Like It was viewed 5.5 million times globally, amounting to a total of 9.6 million hours viewed. The film currently ranks No. 8 among all movies streaming on Netflix globally, per FlixPatrol’s data, and ranks in the Top 10 in countries across the world, such as Australia, Brazil, and Mexico. It ranks alongside other current hits like The Two Popes (No. 7), Bullet Train Explosion (No. 3), and Havoc (No. 1). Viewership data for the most recent week of streaming isn’t yet available.

Along with Jolie, the movie also stars Edward Burns, Tony Shalhoub, Christian Kane, James Gammon, Melissa Errico, Stockard Channing, Lisa Thornhill, Gregory Itzin, Veena Sood, Jesse James Rutherford, and Amanda Tapping.

The film’s current success on Netflix comes as a bit of a surprise. Directed by Stephen Herek, Life or Something Like It was a flop upon its release on April 26, 2002. The film not only marked a commercial and financial loss, grossing only $16.8 million against its $40 million budget, but also a flop among critics and audience members. The movie is rotten on Rotten Tomatoes with just a 26% critics and 44% audience score. A critics consensus reads, “though Jolie is appealing, Life or Something Like It is too contrived and predictable to convincingly convey its message of stopping to smell the roses.”

Life or Something Like It didn’t fare any better on other review sites. The movie has a weighted average score of 31 out of 100 on Metacritic and B+ on CinemaScore.

The movie is one of several in Jolie’s resume currently streaming on Netflix. The platform is also currently home to The Good Shepherd (2006) and the 2024 Netflix original Maria, about soap opera legend Maria Callas. Unbroken (2014) and the Netflix original film First They Killed My Father (2017), both directed by Jolie, are also streaming.