Hereafter

2010 old man movie

Rating: 11/20

Plot: A cute French journalist nearly dies, going so far that she even sees the light, but lives to write about it. A kid deals with life after his twin brother passes away. And Matt Damon, a guy with an extraordinary talent, tries his best to live a normal life. They're paths eventually connect.

But boy, do you have to wait a long time to get there! And "there" doesn't turn out to be very revealing or insightful or moving or really anything. Eastwood channels his inner-Shamalammadingdong and winds up with something that lacks a narrative flow and, more significantly, any real emotion. There's nothing really wrong with the performances (cute Cecile De France, even-cuter Matt Damon, the McLaren twins) or the way this is shot. It just doesn't add up to anything, nothing more than a squelchy fart from Eastwood's old man bathroom. Any bonus point that a surprisingly touching Richard Kind performance might have given this was wiped out instantly by Jay Mohr's presence. I could do without that guy.

2 comments:

Barry said...

Haven't seen it.

cory said...

I thought the boy's pain and quest was very moving. The journalist was good, and Damon was fine, though it is hard to buy him in the role seeing he is Matt Freakin' Damon. I liked it more than I thought I would considering that I'm a card-carrying athiest, and the film was directed by that Eastwood dick. Done perfectly, this kind of film could be very powerful, but this ends up being an earnest but flawed exercise in profundity (first time I have EVER used that word). A 14.