In Hereafter, every character has been touched by death. The serious television journalist from France sputters water after surviving the 2004 tsunami. One half a pair of British twins (and two of the four largest eyes ever) gapes tragically after losing his brother. And in San Francisco, George (Damon), presumably the movie equivalent of Oprah’s former favorite psychic, really doesn’t want to speak to the dead anymore.
This is the premise of the movie: everyone carries embedded within them some essence of those they have lost. George’s magic works because death’s fingerprints are indelible. With a brush of the hand, he channels a message from beyond.
But chatting with ghosts is sticky, for reasons barely explained. And when George does talk to dead people, the content is overly simplistic.Without a wise or clever take on death, the film has nothing to teach us about life. As George runs from the gift he calls a curse, the other characters look to death for answers. They find them, served as plainly as a fact, and yet they don’t learn anything.
By the time the characters meet, they’ve lost all their momentum. They don’t collide; they drift. And in their slow motion, the story releases its grip on the audience.
Hereafter is a pretty movie full of dazzling special effects and well–written dialogue. It’s enjoyable to watch and demands only a few tears. But the catharsis promised by such a grandiose title is never delivered. Death, George says, offers more questions than answers. In Hereafter we get answers, but no interesting questions are raised.
Hereafter Directed by: Clint Eastwood Starring: Matt Damon, Cecile de France, Bryce Dallas Howard Rated PG-13, 129 min. 3/5 Stars
