Rating:  

Starring: Matt Damon, Cecilie de France, Frankie McLaren, George McLaren, Lyndsey Marshall, Thierry Neuvic, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jay Mohr, Derek Jacobi, George Costigan, Niamh Cusack, Richard Kind, Steven R. Schirripa, Jenifer Lewis, Jean-Yves Berteloot, Tom Beard, Marthe Keller.
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Director: Clint Eastwood
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 129 Mins.
Release Date: October 15, 2010
Home Video Date: March 15, 2011
Box Office: $32.7 Million
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Kennedy/Marshall, Malpaso, Amblin Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Written by: Peter Morgan.

Different than you might be anticipating, “Hereafter” is a curveball of sorts from Clint Eastwood. His focus on character-driven dramatic stories remains in tact here, but with a contemplative and desolate tone, “Hereafter” is a polarizing departure from his easier and more inviting films of late. The film raises many admirable questions and yet leaves those and others unanswered in this captivating and intriguing triptych of a film.

Telling three distinctive stories at the outset, “Hereafter” opens with a stunning and unforgettable recreation of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami which devastated Indonesia and killed over 230,000 people. It is in this story we encounter counter Marie (Cecilie de France). a French television journalist on assignment with her boyfriend/producer, Didier (Thierry Neuvic). Marie gets swept away in the avalanche of water and finds herself rescued and brought back to life by rescuers. Marie, while unconscious, endured a near-death experience and is haunted by her experiences after returning back to Paris. The tsunami and recovery have affected Marie and Didier gives her a leave from the station, with the orders for Marie to complete work on her first novel.

George Lonegan is a factory worker and a retired medium, living in San Francisco, who has been asked by his brother (Jay Mohr) to give a reading to a friend and client (Richard Kind). George has resented his gift for many years and stopped performing readings when it all become too much. After his brother’s friend is so moved by the experience of speaking to his deceased wife, Billy, George’s brother, tries to convince George to resume his life’s work. George fiercely resists his brother’s wishes and focuses on his low-paying factory job and looks into talking a night cooking class to try and meet people and distance himself from a life he desperately wants to leave behind. He soon meets Melanie (Bryce Dallas Howard), a fellow student, and their connection gives him optimism that a new chapter can be written in his life.

In London, two 12-year old twins, Marcus and Jason (Frankie and George McLaren), only have each other. Their mother, Jackie (Lyndsey Marshall), is hopelessly hooked on drugs and alcohol and spends long stretches of time away from the family apartment. Marcus and Jason have essentially raised one another and take care of each other with wisdom well beyond their years. Frightened to be removed from their mother’s care and the family home, the brothers try and distract Social Services from seizing them, and attempt to keep their mother in the Department’s good graces. When Jackie needs a prescription filled, she sends Jason. On his return home, street thugs attack him and in his efforts to get away, Jason is struck and killed by a van. Suddenly, Marcus is left without his best friend and twin brother, and with his mother unable to care for Marcus, he is placed in foster care services, his life changed forever.

My initial thoughts with “Hereafter” are simply that this is Eastwood, at 80, contemplating his mortality in three distinctive visions and curiously, all of them are presented in varying degrees of youthfulness. Even with the horrific realities of tsunami sequence which opens the film, and the sudden and shocking death of Jason, “Hereafter” is muted in a rhythmic quiet and resolute solitude. Eastwood is asking questions and although he is not providing answers here, I have to give him credit for being brave enough to ponder life and what may or may not come afterwards.

Watching “Hereafter”, with the film largely hushed in tone, I also came to the realization that many might dismiss the film as boring and listless. If you look closer however, there is a vibrant pulse throughout the film but with the pain and confusion and inner struggles these characters are battling, it seems inert. Peter Morgan’s screenplay has these characters fighting through who they have been and struggling to become who they want to be, and the emotions experienced by all of these characters simply spin them in a spherical stasis.

Matt Damon is again terrific, bringing a solemn and heartfelt performance as George, the reader or psychic, who wishes he had never been saddled with his gift. Damon is restrained and yet perfectly in balance with his emotional center. George is stifled, knows he is at a crossroads of sorts, but cannot distance himself from the one thing which has defined him as unique and as someone who matters. The loss of it could render George irrelevant and perhaps, in George’s view, leave him no different emotionally than those he communicates with.

Elsewhere, Eastwood draws out an effective performance from Cecilie de France as Marie and reportedly sought out young actors, with no prior professional acting experience, to play Marcus and Jason. The McLaren brothers have intriguing interplay with Lynsdey Marshall’s Jackie, their drug-addicted mother who simply cannot pull herself together to be there for them. Bryce Dallas Howard is perhaps the most disappointing performer in the film, not because she is bad in her role as Melanie, but simply that Morgan’s screenplay could not find more for her to do. Her character’s motivations and ultimate meaning to the story leave a puzzling cloud over the proceedings.

This film is not going to be for everyone and its unsettling themes and deliberate pace may make some people disregard its subtle effectiveness. I actually found myself intrigued from start to finish with “Hereafter” and while Peter Morgan’s screenplay may not deliver any of the answers Eastwood may be searching for, it does instill some introspective thoughts on how precious life can be, the suddenness in which it can be taken from us and the ongoing struggle to find a way to matter in the world.

Should I See It?

YES

Fans of Eastwood will be drawn to it, as will fans of Matt Damon. Damon, in particular, gives one of his finest performances in a career rapidly compiling impressive work time and time again.

There are those who will be intrigued by the concepts of the afterlife and death and the supernatural elements to the story.

If engaged with it, “Hereafter” is a definite conversation-starter of a film.

NO

The film’s tsunami sequence and the tragic accident of Jason seem out of step with the final product. They are two jarring moments in a quiet and subdued film. As a result, they may distract and dissuade people from liking the film.

Contemplative looks at death, in three different stories, is hardly an inviting topic to make a lot of folks choose to watch a 130 minute film. This will be too dark, depressing, and perhaps not challenging enough with the issues and thoughts it raises.