Starring: Matt Damon, Cecile De France, Bryce Dallas Howard
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Written by: Peter Morgan
What happens to us when we die? It's a question we all have asked at one point or another in our lives. We ask it because we are afraid of facing death although we know it is inevitable. Clint Eastwood and Peter Morgan have come up with an interesting take on this difficult question with "Hereafter".
Marie LeLay (Cecile De France) plays a talking head for a French news network caught in a tsunami that she barely survives at the opening of the film. Marcus (Frankie McLaren) plays a London schoolboy who's brother is killed. George Lonegan is a blue collar worker in San Francisco who used to be a psychic. So what do these three people have to do with one another? They have all been touched by death in one shape or form.
This is a film that probably won't be noted quite as well for its acting as its storyline. I only thought the acting was so-so. I thought the actors didn't share much emotion in the film although some of them cry at certain points in the film. I couldn't really tell if they were actually crying because they sounded fake to me. I am glad to finally see Matt Damon in something that doesn't seem like the Bourne trilogy all over again. I think he is a great actor but it is good to see that he has stretched his horizons a bit. This is a good role for him and he executes it brilliantly. Cecile De France isn't really anybody I have actually heard of before hearing about this film, but I thought that this was a good role for her. She plays a journalist and to me, she doesn't look a whole lot like a journalist. There is one scene where she is on the air and I don't think that this scenario fit her well. However, it is interesting to see how she handles her life after her traumatic experience surviving a tsunami.
This film has a rather short storyline, however Eastwood is able to make this short storyline into a two hour film because it is split into three separate stories that come together in the end. There is a rather emotionless tone throughout due in part to the lack of background music. The few parts that had it I found to be a little distracting and not needed to create a mood that Eastwood wants the viewers to feel. It was a little too slow paced for me and I thought it could have gone faster but drawing the story out longer makes it more interesting. I like how there is no time for introduction and just goes straight into Marie's story at the beginning of the film. I would have liked to know a little bit about the characters before the action started happening but we learn plenty about these characters as the film goes on. I liked this idea of introducing the characters and their qualities slowly as the movie goes on. In instances such as this, it's more interesting. I was a little bit surprised by the ending though. It ended rather abruptly. I thought there would be a slightly longer storyline and that we would know what George talks to Marie about, but it's an intriguing question we'll never know the answer to.
Overall, this is a great movie and I would recommend it to people who want to see a good drama. There's no action, not many explosions and no twists. It's just straightforward drama. It gives a reasonable answer to the question we all constantly ask: what happens when we die? 3 and 1/2 stars.
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Written by: Peter Morgan
What happens to us when we die? It's a question we all have asked at one point or another in our lives. We ask it because we are afraid of facing death although we know it is inevitable. Clint Eastwood and Peter Morgan have come up with an interesting take on this difficult question with "Hereafter".
Marie LeLay (Cecile De France) plays a talking head for a French news network caught in a tsunami that she barely survives at the opening of the film. Marcus (Frankie McLaren) plays a London schoolboy who's brother is killed. George Lonegan is a blue collar worker in San Francisco who used to be a psychic. So what do these three people have to do with one another? They have all been touched by death in one shape or form.
This is a film that probably won't be noted quite as well for its acting as its storyline. I only thought the acting was so-so. I thought the actors didn't share much emotion in the film although some of them cry at certain points in the film. I couldn't really tell if they were actually crying because they sounded fake to me. I am glad to finally see Matt Damon in something that doesn't seem like the Bourne trilogy all over again. I think he is a great actor but it is good to see that he has stretched his horizons a bit. This is a good role for him and he executes it brilliantly. Cecile De France isn't really anybody I have actually heard of before hearing about this film, but I thought that this was a good role for her. She plays a journalist and to me, she doesn't look a whole lot like a journalist. There is one scene where she is on the air and I don't think that this scenario fit her well. However, it is interesting to see how she handles her life after her traumatic experience surviving a tsunami.
This film has a rather short storyline, however Eastwood is able to make this short storyline into a two hour film because it is split into three separate stories that come together in the end. There is a rather emotionless tone throughout due in part to the lack of background music. The few parts that had it I found to be a little distracting and not needed to create a mood that Eastwood wants the viewers to feel. It was a little too slow paced for me and I thought it could have gone faster but drawing the story out longer makes it more interesting. I like how there is no time for introduction and just goes straight into Marie's story at the beginning of the film. I would have liked to know a little bit about the characters before the action started happening but we learn plenty about these characters as the film goes on. I liked this idea of introducing the characters and their qualities slowly as the movie goes on. In instances such as this, it's more interesting. I was a little bit surprised by the ending though. It ended rather abruptly. I thought there would be a slightly longer storyline and that we would know what George talks to Marie about, but it's an intriguing question we'll never know the answer to.
Overall, this is a great movie and I would recommend it to people who want to see a good drama. There's no action, not many explosions and no twists. It's just straightforward drama. It gives a reasonable answer to the question we all constantly ask: what happens when we die? 3 and 1/2 stars.
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