It seems to me that the majority of the positive user reviews here on IMDb for Hereafter seem to have some bias for the fact that this movie was directed by Clint Eastwood (who also provided the music). If you prefer your movie reviews to be based on the movie itself, it would be in your best interest to ignore such reviews because, for the most part, they rate the film with way more regard than it deserves.
As a survivor of trauma, I went to see Hereafter hoping to find something that could relate to what I and those like me experience on a daily basis. However the film only slightly begins to some close. Unfortunately it comes up dismally short and that, obviously, was not by design.
There is no heart in this movie; none. Yes the opening, catastrophic, scene is quite gripping and well executed. However, well before you get to the end, you realize that it was dramatically out of place with the rest of the feel of this film. Once the film establishes the defining moments that sets the three main characters off on this narrative journey, the rest of the way to the conclusion of the film is loosely comprised of personal experiences that hardly give their protagonists any depth or emotion. Not to mention that the pacing of and transition between these experiences seems, if anything, random and inconsequential.
Cécile De France's character seems hardly driven (or affected) by the severity of her trauma to motivate her subsequent, life altering, actions with any passion. Matt Damon seems detached throughout, bouncing along as emotionless as a tumbleweed until, towards the end of the film, when he finally takes the (all to predictable) risk of coming out of his shell. The casting of the McLaren brothers almost comes across as a ploy. In that I mean, it seems that they decided to cast actors lacking talent and emotional range so that it was to be perceived as emotional numbness. However, in most moments when we need to see that they have something more to offer than melancholy, they come up short. With intonation that seems to be like that of boys being forced to read for the part of a daisy in the middle school play, the boys mumble their words. Most of the only emotion to be perceived is derived strictly from the visuals and situations their characters experience (you'll see).
These characters' destinies roll down a slope with the incline of a driveway until they reach the curb that is their coming together. Note, this is NOT a spoiler; it is pretty obvious that this is the inevitable outcome. If showing that people can be made numb after the experience of something traumatic is the main purpose of this film, then it does so fairly well. However, with nothing in the way of contrast, this just comes across as boredom.
I know it probably seems at this point that I hate this film. I don't. It's a fine AVERAGE movie; a decent escape during the time that it runs. It certainly isn't worthy of the high praise that many of the other reviewers on IMDb have bestowed upon it. It's my hope that my review balances out the IMDb opinion pool.
Also, a note to Clint: The music is dismal. Any attempt to make it understated and poignant resulted in something that brings up memories of cheesy 70's romantic tear-jerkers. You should have forsaken you ego and left it up to someone else.
See or wait? Wait for the DVD
As a survivor of trauma, I went to see Hereafter hoping to find something that could relate to what I and those like me experience on a daily basis. However the film only slightly begins to some close. Unfortunately it comes up dismally short and that, obviously, was not by design.
There is no heart in this movie; none. Yes the opening, catastrophic, scene is quite gripping and well executed. However, well before you get to the end, you realize that it was dramatically out of place with the rest of the feel of this film. Once the film establishes the defining moments that sets the three main characters off on this narrative journey, the rest of the way to the conclusion of the film is loosely comprised of personal experiences that hardly give their protagonists any depth or emotion. Not to mention that the pacing of and transition between these experiences seems, if anything, random and inconsequential.
Cécile De France's character seems hardly driven (or affected) by the severity of her trauma to motivate her subsequent, life altering, actions with any passion. Matt Damon seems detached throughout, bouncing along as emotionless as a tumbleweed until, towards the end of the film, when he finally takes the (all to predictable) risk of coming out of his shell. The casting of the McLaren brothers almost comes across as a ploy. In that I mean, it seems that they decided to cast actors lacking talent and emotional range so that it was to be perceived as emotional numbness. However, in most moments when we need to see that they have something more to offer than melancholy, they come up short. With intonation that seems to be like that of boys being forced to read for the part of a daisy in the middle school play, the boys mumble their words. Most of the only emotion to be perceived is derived strictly from the visuals and situations their characters experience (you'll see).
These characters' destinies roll down a slope with the incline of a driveway until they reach the curb that is their coming together. Note, this is NOT a spoiler; it is pretty obvious that this is the inevitable outcome. If showing that people can be made numb after the experience of something traumatic is the main purpose of this film, then it does so fairly well. However, with nothing in the way of contrast, this just comes across as boredom.
I know it probably seems at this point that I hate this film. I don't. It's a fine AVERAGE movie; a decent escape during the time that it runs. It certainly isn't worthy of the high praise that many of the other reviewers on IMDb have bestowed upon it. It's my hope that my review balances out the IMDb opinion pool.
Also, a note to Clint: The music is dismal. Any attempt to make it understated and poignant resulted in something that brings up memories of cheesy 70's romantic tear-jerkers. You should have forsaken you ego and left it up to someone else.
See or wait? Wait for the DVD