Eastwood, Spielberg, and Morgan have all lost their fucking minds.

Is one interesting character a lot to ask for? And please, can we stop with the connecting storylines (Crash, Babel)? They're fucking annoying.

*

Yeah, I think I'm going to pass on this until DVD.

"The old unhappy feeling pervaded my life. It was deepened, if it were changed at all; but it was as undefined as ever, and addressed me like a strain of sorrowful music faintly heard in the night."

Hereafter joins Letters from Iwo Jima and Unforgiven as one of the best films of Clint Eastwood's directorial career. A supernatural drama, the film concerns a cast of international characters--an American psychic (Matt Damon), a French newsreader (Cécile de France), and British identical twins (the McLaren brothers) neglected by their mother (Lyndsey Marshal). Through their nature and a series of events, including, in the film's spectacular opening scene, the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, death becomes an important part of each character's life, including the big question, the question which fills us with dread and/or hope, the question which inspires religions: after death, is it just lights out or does another (after)life begin?

This quiet, yet powerful film, with its supernatural themes, represents a significant change not just for its director, but also its writer, the talented Peter Morgan, best known for focused, intelligent docudramas (starring Michael Sheen), including The Queen, Frost/Nixon, and The Damned United. Morgan handles the material well; each character is interesting and well-defined (Damon's conflicted, isolated George in particular), the storyline unfolds in a deliberate, tender manner, and the coincidences and supernatural/theological elements, which could have turned into bathetic slush, are subtle and touched upon with great care.

Each performance is dynamic. Matt Damon is one of the best, most solid living American actors. He delivers one of his finest and most nuanced turns to date here, letting us into the character's aching, sympathetic soul with seeming ease. Cécile de France, the Belgian star perhaps best known to American audiences for her role in the brutal, stylish High Tension, turns in a sensitive turn and is just as engaging as Damon, as are the fresh-faced McLaren twins in their acting debut. Though her role is much smaller, Bryce Dallas Howard is also deserving of great praise. As a charming, but haunted woman who forms a brief romantic connection with George, Howard injects a great deal of pathos and warmth into a small supporting role. This is by far her best performance since her well-received, a-star-is-born turn in The Village.

Eastwood's direction is, of course, admirable, often beautiful. The first act disaster sequence is well-staged and worthy of the most expensive Michael Bay/Roland Emmerich film. The entire film has a wonderful feel; with cinematographer Tom Stern, Eastwood gives every scene a quiet brooding, and at times an oh-so subtle otherworldiness, which creeps under the viewer's skin. Perhaps the greatest compliment one can pay Hereafter is to say it's thought-provoking. Both the devout and atheists (I am in the latter camp) should leave in a reflective mood. Eastwood and Morgan don't dare answer the big question, but just by recognizing the conversation and deep associated feelings, they've crafted a masterpiece and one of 2010's very best films.

A

This movie's so good!

Worth the price of admission for the tsunami scene alone!

...luckily!

Because unfortunately the rest of the movie is worth less than the sum of it's parts.

Sure it's filled with many fine sequences, bravuracting turns, an eerily effectively low key soundtrack, and cinematographic élän out the wazoo - - there's simply no question anymore - - Clint's got the goods. I especially like how he sidesteps the obvious inanity of "psychic powers", by slyly treating it as simple matter of fact. However, hereafter he's sadly tripped up by the interwoven story structure... it reminds me of the era before his latest directorial renaissance, before the glory of his previous four-in-a-row grand slam of Letters from Iwo Jima, Changeling, Gran Torino, and Invictus - - I'm talking about his over-rated and flock-of-parrots popular Overserious Creek and Hundred Yen Toddler. Yep - - I'm afraid he's dipping back in that tainted well.

But what can I say?

Ya gotta see it.

(For the reasons I listed above.)

Just don't go in expecting Dickens and you might be lucky like me and come out rating this fractured fairytale a disappointing:


3 out of 5.

Lol, Clint Eastwood.

HEREAFTER - 8/10 (A-)

A beautiful, thoughtful, and sobering human drama. Cécile de France (High Tension) is simply wonderful. I was captivated whenever she was on the screen. Young actors Frankie and George McLaren give terrific performances as Marcus/Jason. I was also won over by Matt Damon and Bryce Dallas Howard. There's really no weak link here among the main players.

It's no surprise audiences are mixed on the film. I have a feeling most are expecting a more eerie, supernatural thriller type of movie, ala The Sixth Sense. I personally prefer the more intimate picture Eastwood has crafted. It's all rather low-key, but this is a very "nice" film that I enjoyed a lot.

This was such a good, underrated movie. Still one of 2010's best. Very gentle and melancholy and sophisticated and well-acted.