Hereafter

Hereafter is a tough film to review. It's not a bad film, by any means. There's nothing about it to make one angry, or compel eye-rolling or an inclination to walk out of the theater. I was never bored by it, but I wasn't engaged by it, either. I watched it in a state of passive acceptance, much as I might spend an afternoon sitting on a park bench, watching people go by.

I think the biggest problem with the film is that it doesn't really stick its neck out. The plot has three strands, all that deal with what happens to us after we are dead, but the answer, such as it is given, isn't particularly bold or original. I left the theater wondering what the point was. I learned nothing from it, and fail to see what excited the writer or director to make it.

The writer is Peter Morgan, who wrote The Queen and Frost/Nixon, two films I found engrossing, and the director is Clint Eastwood who, at eighty, surely has had some cause to ponder the mysteries of the hereafter. They tell the story following three protagonists: a French newsreader (Cecilie de France), who survives the tsunami in Southeast Asia, but is haunted by a vision she has when she is momentarily dead; a man (Matt Damon), who has turned his back on his career as a psychic, seeking a simpler life that doesn't involve him perpetually occupied with grieving people who want to communicate with their dead loved ones; and an English boy who has lost his twin brother (both boys are played by George and Frankie McLaren).

De France is so obsessed by her vision that she loses focus on her job, and instead of writing a book about Francois Mitterand, writes a book about what people see in near-death experiences (her exasperated publisher tells her that such a book would have to be written in English and marketed to Americans). Damon's brother (Jay Mohr), wants him to resurrect his successful career in giving readings, but Damon sees his ability as a curse rather than a gift. He meets a woman (Bryce Dallas Howard) in a cooking class, and when she learns of his former career insists on him giving her a reading. He tells her it will change their relationship, and he turns out to be right.

Meanwhile, the young McLaren boy, devastated by his brother's death, and in foster care because his mother is a substance abuser, makes the rounds of psychics in an attempt to contact him, and finds nothing but charlatans. It is inevitable that somehow he and Damon will cross paths, and, sure enough, all three characters intersect at a London book fair.

All of this plays dutifully, but without suspense. The opening scene, a recreation of the tsunami, is an outstanding bit of special effects, which gives the viewer a false sense that there will be more heart-stopping moments. There aren't. Instead, the characters go about their business with a solemn sense of purpose (this is one of the sadder Hollywood releases I've seen). Morgan doesn't attempt to answer the question of what lies beyond, except for some trite "heading toward a bright light" images. The film clearly states that there is a hereafter--Damon's character is not a fake--but doesn't have anything to say about it. I would imagine the conversations on drives home from the theater would be more interesting than the film itself.

My grade for Hereafter: C