Hereafter (2010)

I know it's not a "Horror" film and I have several that NEED to be written up. But this one was actually asked for.
Hopefully Rift's servers will go down or something and I will write up the others. I cannot belive it's been three months since I posted! What the HELL?

Let's get a couple of nit picks out of the way first. Completely in the realm of 'suspension of disbelief' this movie was seriously suffering from Hollywood Parking. The Cooking Class Scenes. Watch for it.

Jay Mohr used to be cute. But I think his face is blending together. Maybe he's getting fat or went under the knife but whatever happened... it looks like he's melting. It was distracting. Thankfully he's not around THAT much and Damon manages to steal the scenes anyway.

I should state that I dislike Damon for the same reason I dislike most people that appear on things like Perez Hilton and the cover of other Celeb-Stalker publications. Once they get "known", it sometimes becomes hard to separate Actor from Character. I've never seen an Angelina Jolie movie where I literally stopped thinking I was seeing HER playing so-and-so. In this film is was actually easy to let Matt Damon go and accept this as the story of George. His vulnerability, his hopelessness, all of it was very real. I have to thank an actor when they do that, they enable the immersion when they do their jobs well.

The other stunner was Bryce Dallas Howard. I guess I have seen her in several movies and never made the connection it was the same woman. She's amazing. From the naive lead of The Village, the mysterious Story in Lady In The Water, Gwen Stacey in Spiderman 3 and Victoria in the Twilight films, this girl is a chameleon. I'd cast her as Harley Quinn, and that's about the highest honor ANY actress could get from me.

I can't say enough about the The McLauren twins, Frankie and George,  who both play twins and alternate roles so they look "even more alike". They are nothing short of heartbreaking. The understanding and resignation of what's happening is conveyed with VERY little dialog on their part. They share one of the strongest moments in the film and it's just amazing to watch.

Thierry Neuvic is absolutely stunning every time he steps on screen. His IMDB resume is huge and not a single good picture of him, so I capped one for you..

There are shots of him in the film (perfect lighting, hair and makeup of course) where he will take your breath away. It's almost a distraction. Thankfully Cecile De France has enough screen presence to stand next him. Her story is the weakest, but none of that has to do with the performances, rather her lackluster 'brush with death' schtick. With the other two stories being so strong and unique, hers just fails to stand up. You still care and it's not that it's boring, it's just not as strong. In this maelstrom of emotions this movie wants to play with, more strength would have made the film devastating.

There is a gut punch or two in the movie. I really didn't expect to react to either situation but damned if Eastwood didn't manage to manipulate me into a corner. I was caught off guard and face melted. Pwned as it were. I have to give him props for doing his job. There is a big set piece SFX shot, but it's done well and managed to pull me in. Another later scene could have been a mess and pushed it over the line, but it was actually so subtle it was terrifying. Michael Bay would have missed that one.

The three stories actually do manage to collide and touch each of the main characters but it never really gets to a point where they stretch believability. Unfortunately it never really has much to say on the subject either. The ending is very vague and ultimately doesn't even answer it's own questions. Ultimately this is a story that is in the journey, not the destination. And that may be it's biggest weakness. When you set yourself up to ask "What happens after we die" you really need to make a stronger statement than.... *shrug*

As a character piece and "watch actors acting" movie, it was top notch all the way around. I just wish the story and message had been stronger and with more of an emotional conclusion. Over all worth seeing but don't expect it to be that heavy.

***Eyecandy**
The man candy here should be fairly obvious. I'll even give it to Damon with a little weight on and the touch of grey in his hair, he starting to look like a man. Thierry up there is like a combination of Kyle Bornheimer and Danny Dyer and the first time we lay eyes on him he is sprawled out on the bed asleep in nothing but boxers. He later gets up and wanders around a bit. Not skin, but still candy. Other than that, the story really gets in the way even though there is no clothing removed after the opener.