My Life
Life is going well for Bob Jones: great job, beautiful loving wife and a baby on the way. Then he finds out that he has kidney cancer that will leave him dead within months. He sets out to videotape his life's acquired wisdom for his child, and ends up on a voyage of self-discovery and reconciliation.
Working with a moderate budget of $17.5M, the film achieved a steady performer with $27.5M in global revenue (+57% profit margin).
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
My Life (1993) exhibits meticulously timed narrative architecture, characteristic of Bruce Joel Rubin's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 54 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.4, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 2 minutes (2% through the runtime) establishes Bob Jones in his successful LA life - confident PR exec with pregnant wife Gail, preparing for their baby. He appears to have it all: career success, loving marriage, impending fatherhood.. Significantly, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 13 minutes when Bob receives his cancer diagnosis - terminal kidney cancer that has metastasized. His doctor tells him he has months to live, shattering his carefully constructed future.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 27 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 24% of the runtime. This demonstrates the protagonist's commitment to Bob decides to make video recordings for his unborn child - actively choosing to create a legacy and face his mortality rather than hide from it. This is his first step toward acceptance., moving from reaction to action.
At 57 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Notably, this crucial beat Bob's estranged parents visit, forcing him to confront his childhood pain and the family trauma he's been running from. The false victory of creating videos gives way to realizing he has deeper work to do., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 86 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Bob's physical collapse - he becomes bedridden, loses autonomy, faces the imminent reality of death. His body fails him, and he can no longer maintain the illusion of control. The "whiff of death" is literal., indicates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 91 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 79% of the runtime. Bob has a breakthrough - he realizes legacy isn't about teaching skills but about emotional truth, forgiveness, and love. He reconciles with his parents and decides to share his authentic self on video., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
My Life's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping My Life against these established plot points, we can identify how Bruce Joel Rubin utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish My Life within the drama genre.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Bob Jones in his successful LA life - confident PR exec with pregnant wife Gail, preparing for their baby. He appears to have it all: career success, loving marriage, impending fatherhood.
Theme
Doctor or Gail mentions something about facing what's really important in life, foreshadowing Bob's journey from denial to acceptance and the importance of legacy and connection.
Worldbuilding
Establishing Bob's world: his demanding career, his pregnancy journey with Gail, his disconnect from his Detroit family, his control-freak tendencies, and his focus on the future rather than the past.
Disruption
Bob receives his cancer diagnosis - terminal kidney cancer that has metastasized. His doctor tells him he has months to live, shattering his carefully constructed future.
Resistance
Bob struggles with denial, tries experimental treatments, debates whether to tell Gail the full truth. He resists accepting his fate and grapples with how to handle his limited time.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Bob decides to make video recordings for his unborn child - actively choosing to create a legacy and face his mortality rather than hide from it. This is his first step toward acceptance.
Mirror World
Bob's relationship with Gail deepens as she becomes his thematic mirror - she represents unconditional love, acceptance of life's uncertainties, and emotional openness that Bob must learn.
Premise
Bob creates elaborate video lessons teaching his child everything from shaving to fixing things. He tries to compress a lifetime of fatherhood into recordings, initially avoiding emotional depth.
Midpoint
Bob's estranged parents visit, forcing him to confront his childhood pain and the family trauma he's been running from. The false victory of creating videos gives way to realizing he has deeper work to do.
Opposition
Bob's health deteriorates rapidly. His attempts to control everything fall apart. Tension with his parents intensifies. He realizes his videos are inadequate - he's teaching skills but not sharing his heart.
Collapse
Bob's physical collapse - he becomes bedridden, loses autonomy, faces the imminent reality of death. His body fails him, and he can no longer maintain the illusion of control. The "whiff of death" is literal.
Crisis
Bob spirals into despair and anger. He confronts his fear of being forgotten, his regret over estrangement from family, and his terror of leaving his wife and child. Dark night of the soul.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Bob has a breakthrough - he realizes legacy isn't about teaching skills but about emotional truth, forgiveness, and love. He reconciles with his parents and decides to share his authentic self on video.
Synthesis
Bob creates his final, honest videos - sharing his fears, his love, his vulnerabilities. He makes peace with his family, witnesses his child's birth, and finds acceptance of his fate. True legacy achieved.
Transformation
Bob holds his newborn son, at peace. Where the opening showed a man afraid to face his past and feelings, the closing shows a man who has found grace through vulnerability and connection. He dies complete.