Hereafter

Welcome to another episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today's review is Hereafter. Directed by Clint Eastwood. Written by Peter Morgan.

100th review countdown....#88

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic elements including disturbing disaster and accident images, and for brief strong language.

Runtime: 129 min

Cast

Cécile De France - Marie LeLay

Thierry Neuvic - Didier

Jay Mohr - Billy

Richard Kind - Christos

Matt Damon - George Lonegan

Frankie McLaren - Marcus / Jason

George McLaren - Marcus / Jason

Lyndsey Marshal - Jackie

Bryce Dallas Howard - Melanie


As a movie reviewer, it's tough not reading other critics take on a film that I see as well. My friend Jeff who's the real inspiration for my review column leaves other reviews from newspapers from time to time.  Most of the time they are films that I either have seen already or will not go see anyway like Piranha 3D.

Inside joke. Sorry Jeff I had to do it. =)

Occasionally I will get a review for a film that I haven't seen yet and I try to resist reading until I see it. Mostly for fear of the review influencing my opinion prior to my viewing. Sadly I am not strong enough to withstand the unknown so I delve in and read the reviews. By my count only 2 reviews have opinions that differ from mine. Robin Hood and The American.

I can add Hereafter to the list. And that's a good thing.

The story for Hereafter centers around the events of 3 people. Marie, Marcus and George. Marie while on vacation is caught in a massive Tsunami while shopping. She appears to have died after attempts to revive her fail when miraculously she comes to and survives. Marcus and his twin brother Jason look after each other and their drug addicted mother. After an accident takes Jason away, Marcus is left alone trying to adjust living with a foster family while mourning the loss of his brother and best friend. Finally, George has the ability to talk to the dead. He at one time used his ability to make money but the constant attention and stresses of carrying other people's grief forced him to quit and go into solitude. The rest of the movie establishes each characters ability to function in their everyday lives after their experiences. Marie begins to question if there is an after life. Marcus tries to reconnect with Jason and George struggles to have a "normal" life.

You really feel the pain of each person. They are trying their best to cope with their struggles and it's not easy. You spend a lot of time caring for these people. You want them all to get better and live on as best as they can. I saw this movie with my mother and I asked her after it was over who she felt sorry for the most. She said that Marcus got her attention the most. It isn't hard to choose him because of how young he is and the unbreakable bond that he had with big brother. He wanders around the rest of the picture in a lost state of mind that is heartbreaking.

I however felt a deeper sadness for George. Simply because he spent his time rejecting his ability. He was conflicted by his desire for a regular life with never ending plea's of people wanting him to do readings. It was that conflict that made me sad for him. He's mourning loved ones that were part of a life he never had yet desperately craves. That to me was crushing. The one chance he had of getting away from his past was taken away the second he was outed as a psychic. Every scene I saw of him eating alone in his kitchen was heartbreaking to me. The man did nothing wrong and he's being sentenced to a life of solitude due in part to his other worldly friends on the other side.

Now I'm sure some of you may argue that if George really wanted a normal life he could if he just worked at it. Just see this movie and you will see how much harder it actually was to make that happen. Eastwood does a fine job making sure that you can't be put in his shoes unless you actually have the same psychic powers as he does.

This leads to another good and bad thing that Eastwood does with this film. The good is he balances the screen time with all 3 characters nicely and equally. The film is billed as a Matt Damon picture but in reality he's sharing the spotlight with Marcus and Marie. This was done well. You are never spending too much time with just 1 character. The bad is because Eastwood needed to give each character it's due, the film drags a bit. At 2 hours and 9 minutes, there was a little too much dead time (no pun intended) before the point of the film is reached. I would guess that a good 10-15 min could have been shaved and you would have a much tighter story that still has it's flow.

The most important thing Hereafter provides the viewer is it's message.

This movie has absolutely NOTHING to do with death. It's about life. Your life and what you should be doing with it. The film reminds you that some of the most important things we have in our lives are the relationships we create, build, share and lose. You are told 2 very important life lessons that are intertwined with each other. You must cherish the important people in your life because you'll never realize what you have until it's gone.

I know I'm not telling you all something that you don't already know but every once in a while a reminder is necessary. Hereafter does that quite nicely and subtly.

On the 5 star scale. Hereafter gets 4 stars. With a "Worth Every Penny!" recommendation.

I had to take a star away for the draggy feel towards the end of Act 2 into Act 3. Sorry Lynne (another inside joke). Aside from that, Eastwood did it again. He continues to make films that touch both your heart and your mind while guiding some of Hollywood's best and brightest.

Does this one have Oscar potential? I can honestly say I don't know. The best picture race is looking very weak right now but as the winter months roll around we will start to see some contenders. The 10 Best Picture nominees will certainly help it's cause.

That's a wrap for today. Not sure what's next. You can rest assured that it will not be Saw 3D.

Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"