Hereafter Reviews

A nice idea but the film seems to be lacking direction in the early stages as it switches from 3 stories which eventually come together. Thought it would be more interesting than it was, very surprising to find out it was directed by Clint Eastwood and Steven Speilberg was an executive producer. They normally do much better than this. A missed opportunity.

In what constitutes contemplating your navel, Clint Eastwood has brought us an allegedly thought provoking film that.... Doesn't provoke any thought. I suppose it's nice that Clint is of an age where he might be ruminating on such a subject, and I found it refreshing that the G word was nowhere to be found here, but the film, and here I'm guessing again, failed to provide any answers because it didn't WANT to.

You are left with a bland supposition that an afterlife exists, but what, why, when and how are left drifting in the wind. Taken at face value you have a script that shows three characters all searching for something. A French journalist survives a near death experience and subsequently can't stop thinking about it and what she believes she "saw" while "officially dead". A young twin is lost without his recently deceased brother and thinks that he should be able to communicate with him.

The 3rd character is Matt Damon, who can see past the veil of death and communicate with dead people. Yeah, he really can, and as he tells us, it's a curse, not a blessing. When he touches a person he gets a kind of shock wave and then can see dead folk who are hanging around in purgatory or some such, waiting to contact the real world. This is kind of unnerving and really makes it hard for Damon to carry on a "normal" relationship (Clint and Co do a nice job with this aspect - showing a potential girl friend who, upon being told by Damon that her father wishes forgiveness for what he did to her, feels that there should be secrets in a relationship so dumps him).

All this is fairly interesting, and Clint directs with a sure hand. The cinematography is beautiful (longtime Clint partner Tom Stern is again the Director of Photography), and yet, for all its earnestness and the tightening of circles within circles involving the three characters, the film simply lacks something... it's as if the three stories just don't have any pizzaz on their own - and only by weaving them together do we get any spark of narrative. Even the ending, which makes perfect sense in a way, left me uninvolved when I should have been happy for the outcome.

In the end, I freely admit that we're all searching for something - be it the face of God, or simply a good hamburger, but while I certainly enjoyed my theology courses in college, I really couldn't get involved with the characters nor the big question of the film: what happens to you when you die? As the journalist's colleague states, getting to the gist of it "the lights go out and there's the endless nothing". I don't really agree with that point of view, but I certainly don't adhere to the conventional notions of heaven and hell either - so maybe Clint has point here after all - just wish the film had more going for it in the here and now.

I am just one of those that likes to be lazy watching a movie and HATES subtitles. I know it makes a movie more realist I guess, but I watch movies because they are not reality and like to not have to pay too much attention.... I like to multi-task while watching a movie. But the story is ok and the acting is very good, but the damn subtitles were just too distracting scattered throughout the movie.

Hereafter is another Eastwood film that did not really live up to my expectations, but did not ruin them either, it was a decent and cool experience.

Hereafter presents the audience with a complicated, touchy, and thought-provoking premise and delivers pretty well. Clint Eastwood does a great job weaving the multiple story lines together, the film looks great, and there is exceptional acting skills by supporting cast. But the films effectiveness is diminished because of it's slow pace, it's slight predictability, and it's repetitiveness. Consensus: Hereafter has a thought-provoking premise and the film is too long, but has great acting and three great story lines that are told and woven together quite effectively.

I actually thought this was really good and well written...

It's interesting that, at Clint Eastwood should, for the first time, choose to tackle the supernatural and the question of what happens after we die. The fact that the script which hooked him was written by Peter Morgan - such an astute dramatiser of major true-life political events and figures (particularly, The Queen and Frost/Nixon) - should make for an exciting prospect.
This drama is about three lonely people each living in different countries whose lives become indelibly connected in an unforseeable, yet touching way. Cecile De France is stunning as a television reporter who touches her own death and returns. Frankie (or is it George) McLaren is good as the young boy. And Matt Damon's restrained performance is a revelation.
Eastwood has the assured hand that allows long segments in French with English subtitles and a juncture with two disasters and such a touchy-feely subject, and yet it works. Quietly. Thoughtfully.

This somber drama with supernatural elements is not only a surprising, atypical film for Clint Eastwood to direct, it is also a reinforcement of the fact that, even at his age, he is still a man willing to take risks, and to do so with no real evidence of fear.

Honestly, I'm rather puzzled by this film. I think it may have been better under someone else's direction, but I will give Mr. Eastwood props for doing this. Also, while I did find some enjoyment out of this, I do think this film (as is) has a number of issues with it, so, even though there are thigns about it I really liked, and some scenes I really enjoyed, I can only give this a mild recommendation.

The plot concerns three different stories about three different people who all have in common the fact that they have experience with death and the afterlife (or supposed afterlife) in some way or another. One is a trouble former psychic, another is the survivor (barely) of a natural disaster, and the other is a grieving young man.

This film, as some have said, is somewhat of a chore to sit through. It's a bit over two hours, but the main thing is that the pacing is not only slow, it's practically glacial. Also, there's a lot of material here, enough so that there really could have been three separate films- one for each lead, instead of tryign to tell all three storeis in a single film. I do admire the ambitiousness, though.

Besides beign very slow, kinda long, and switching between people, places, and storylines, this film really doesn't have a whole lot to say, leaving much up to speculation. No real answers are given. A couple things I really liked htough were that there was a fair amount of subtitles (the natural disaster survivor is a French woman), and the disaster sequence is extremely well done, and very convincing. Watching it made me think more of Roland Emmerich movies, except more realistic, more restrained, and more gripping in terms of being more than just an assault on the ears and eyes.

I really wish this film could have been far better paced, and had more to say, especially since it's roughly 128 minutes long. It did feel odd that Eastwood was directing it, because it's not really something I think he's suited for, but I won't say that it was a mistake for him to make this.

There's enough here that I liked though, so I think you should perhaps give this one a look.

Damon plays a very sympathetic character. The dichotomy between George and some of the other characters are very real-world, very believable. It's a slow paced film with great character development and some intertwine a la Crash. Bryce Dallas Howard did a great job as a supporting character. Eastwood is quickly becoming a favorite directer of mine.

A disappointing afterlife-mumbo-jumbo from Clint Eastwood, as if we haven't seen enough of supersensitive psychics and white lights already.

This is very much a love-it or hate-it movie. Aside from the opening scenes, it's not a popcorn flick, so you need to be wide-awake to appreciate the subtle brilliance of this film. This movie is understated, quiet, and thoughtful. Personally, I think that Clint Eastwood is a genius..no matter which side of the screen he is on. Nice movie!

I have enjoyed every Clint Eastwood directed movie I have ever seen, until I sat down and watched this one. This film just seemed to lack the overall enjoyable real life theme that comes from most of his movies. The intertwining of peoples life's in movies has been over done. This was a huge disappointment from the previews and movie title. Only can muster up 2 1/2 stars.

A stellar drama (with an extraordinary opening sequence) that works as a slow-paced meditation on life, death, the afterlife, and ultimately destiny. Clint Eastwood brings his strong direction to this unusual fable and is helped greatly by an ensemble of subtle, realistic performances. While not one of Eastwood's masterpieces (as director), this is one of the best films from 2010 and his strongest effort in years.

Hereafter is definitely going to be misinterpreted and shoved aside because it had some of the worst marketing of all time. The promoters had no idea what this movie was about or what it was trying to say. Clint Eastwood's look into the afterlife is completely unique and more believable than anything similar. It's a movie about connecting with the dead, yet it never feels like a hokey ghost movie or insincere in any way at all. It's hard to evaluate because of the three plots going on that seem unrelated, but turn out to make sense by the end. Matt Damon and Cecile De France both put in really great performances, but also know how to be subtle and let the characters exist in a very real world. The score is one of my favorite parts; Clint Eastwood really took a chance with it and it worked wonders on the end result. Given a proper chance, this is a great movie that attempts (and succeeds) at making an outlandish topic become a incredibly moving and powerful.

Hereafter is a slow, quiet study on the affect that death and the dearly departed have on the living.

It's not really a ghost story or even a very supernatural movie. The three main characters each have felt death's power in different ways in their life. George (Matt Damon), a man who can contact the deceased, has fled from his abilities because they keep him from having a normal life. Marie (Cecile de France) is a journalist who has a near-death experience during a tsunami, and becomes consumed with understanding what she saw. And in London, a young British boy is desperate to contact a lost family member one last time.

The three separate stories do eventually connect, but that's not really where the value of Hereafter lies. I can see this film being a source of frustration for some viewers eager for a traditional conflict and resolution or character arc, but those things aren't really Eastwood's priority.The movie doesn't have much of a "point", other than how death is such an important part of all of our lives, even as it's also probably the most mysterious.

I liked it, but I'm hesitant in recommending it. Slow-paced movies like these need the right audience. It's fairly different from Eastwood's other movies, and I wouldn't mind seeing him tackle something like this, again.

Superb and emotional supernatural drama directed with a sure hand from Clint Eastwood and pulls out Matt Damon's best performace yet. It's a little long and takes forever for things to start coming together but it makes the ending all the better for it.

it was a good movie, not a great one but decent enough to divert someone's attention. I wish we could have seen more of Bryce Dallas Howard character which is totally gorgeous.

On assignment in Thailand, French television journalist Marie Lelay (Cécile de France) becomes a victim of the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Pulled lifeless from the water, she is resuscitated by rescuers and after left for dead gasps back to life; but not before having a near-death experience / vision of human figures inhabiting a realm of light. Marie and her lover there, Didier (Thierry Neuvic), are soon reunited as the disaster subsided, and they return to Paris. Marie's experience, however, interferes with her work performance to the point that Didier (who is also her producer) sells her on taking a leave of absence and write the book they've discussed; which would add to her prestige.

In London, England, 12-year-old twins Marcus and Jason (Frankie and George McLaren) try desperately to prevent their alcoholic, heroin-addicted mother, Jackie (Lyndsey Marshal), from losing them to social services. After evading the authorities yet again, the boys' mother sends Jason to the chemist (pharmacist) to pick up her de-tox prescription. On the way home, Jason is attacked by street thugs, and while trying to escape, he is hit by a van and killed. No longer able to protect his mother, and barely able to cope with life without the brother he idolizes, Marcus is sent to a foster home.

In San Francisco, former professional psychic George Lonnegan (Matt Damon) is persuaded against his wishes to perform a reading for his brother's, Billy (Jay Mohr), wealthy client, Christos (Richard Kind). A genuine clairvoyant with a gift for communicating with the dead, George abandoned his old career because he was unable to deal with the emotional impact of the reunions and the often disturbingly intimate family secrets revealed. While doing the reading, George hears the name June. Christos at first denies that it means anything, but privately reveals to Billy that June was the name of his late wife's nurse, who eventually became his lover.

Now book-writing with more time to contemplate her near-death experience, Marie travels to Switzerland to meet a renowned specialist in the field. As the director of a hospice who has seen her share of dying patients, the doctor describes herself as a former skeptic who was convinced by the evidence that the afterlife exists and that people like Marie have had a genuine view of it. She persuades Marie to write a book on her experience (vs above) in the hope that the scientific community will ultimately accept the reality of life beyond death.

Desperate for one last reunion with his twin brother, Marcus steals money from his foster parents (Niamh Cusack and George Costigan) and goes around London seeking someone to help him contact Jason. He encounters only frauds and pretenders, however. While he is trying to board the underground at Charing Cross, Marcus's (or rather Jason's) cap seems blown off his head; and delayed by trying to find it he misses his train and sees it explode in the tunnel during the 2005 London Bombings.

George enrolls in a cooking class taught by one of San Francisco's leading chefs. Its students are paired-up resulting in George being partnered with a young woman named Melanie (Bryce Dallas Howard). The two soon hit it off and after their second class agree on stopping for a bite; and instead decide to put their new culinary skills to use by preparing an Italian dinner for themselves at George's place. That begins well until they hear an ill-timed phone message from his brother which inclines George to reveal his past as a psychic to Melanie. Curious, she presses George to do a reading for her. George explains his reluctance, but goes through with it. They contact the spirit of Melanie's father, who ends the session by asking her forgiveness for "what he did to" her as a child. Melanie flees George's home in tears, and she doesn't return to the cooking class.

Having been in talks with a publisher before her trip to Thailand about a biography of François Mitterrand, Marie now stuns them with her new manuscript entitled "Hereafter: A Conspiracy of Silence". The publisher (Jean-Yves Berteloot) rejects the manuscript; yet soon steers her toward other publishers who might be interested. The most promising of them being in London.

George is laid off from his factory job and, still heartbroken over the fiasco with Melanie, rejects his brother's proposal of reviving his psychic practice and impulsively leaves San Francisco to find a new start somewhere else. He travels to London, where, being a great admirer of Charles Dickens (he listens every night to audiobook readings of Dickens' works), and visits the Dickens Museum and to a live reading of Dickens by Derek Jacobi at the London Book Fair that same day. There, one of the presenters was Marie reading her now published book Hereafter. While handing to George the copy she signed to him, their hands touch and George has a psychic flash of Marie's tsunami drowning, confirming the truth of her writing.

Marcus and his foster parents along with the boy's social-worker overseers head to the London Book Fair to meet up with the child's foster parents' former foster child, who is a now a successful young man. Asking leave of them, Marcus looks around the fair and spots George, of whom he has read and seen online. Marcus tries to stop George, who elusively brushes him off and returns to his hotel. Marcus follows him and stands resolutely outside the hotel until nightfall waiting for George to come out. Eventually George brings him in and agrees to do his reading.

Through George, after telling Marcus how happy he is and that the afterlife is more wonderful than he can imagine, deceased Jason imparts a sterner message; telling Marcus that he cannot look after him anymore and that it is time Marcus start looking after himself and need not fear being alone, "because they are one'. George begins to lose contact and Marcus tearfully pleads for Jason to stay. Jason returns and tells Marcus that he wants him to stop wearing the cap, as it was his, not Marcus's. In the train station wind, it was Jason who knocked his cap off to keep Marcus off the doomed train; and that that's the last time he will look after him. George loses contact again and Marcus resumes begging Jason to return - to no avail. As Marcus leaves, he tells George he is sorry about "the French woman" as he could tell that "you like her." The last we see of Marcus, he is visiting his mother in the rehab center.

Marie learns from Didier that he does not intend on having her back at the job he urged her to take leave of; and is in fact having an affair with the woman who replaced her on the TV news program (and on its billboards). George in his hotel room is told by Marcus via phone what hotel Marie is staying in. George goes there and writes a note to her. After reading it, she accepts its invitation from a reader of her book who knows her story is true and would like to meet her over lunch. The reader turns out to be George. Their shared glimpses of the hereafter having made them appreciate this life all the more, they walk off hand in hand as the movie ends.

Complete with fascinating characters and great direction, Hereafter exceeds at creating a satisfying film, no matter how slow some may say it moves. An underrated gem in 2010. Eastwood does work.