Hereafter

Hereafter is a supernatural drama/thriller from Clint Eastwood, that stars Matt Damon. It was released in late October. The film follows the lives of three people who are touched/affected by death in different ways. Damon, plays the lead role of George Lonegan, a man with the ability to genuinely communicate with the dead. Cecile de France, is Marie LeLay, a French journalist who survives a tsunami, but has a near death experience that shakes her grasp of reality. Finally, Frankie and George McLaren, are twins Marcus and Jason, who share a close brotherly bond that is broken after one of them tragically dies. The film shows how mortality affects people from different walks of life, leaving voids in their lives that they choose to temporarily fill by trying to communicate with their lost loved ones through a psychic medium.

The concept of the film is a delicate one, but certainly one that captures the attention of millions of people across the globe. So, it makes sense that Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment would be attached to a project like this one. Spielberg's track record and incredible success allow him to take great chances on movies other producers wouldn't touch. But, unfortunately for him, Eastwood, and Kathleen Kennedy (Another of the film's producers) the movie which was budgeted at $50 million, has only managed to pull in about $33 million in 70 days of release in American theaters. I'm not sure any of these people expected Hereafter to break records, but I think break even was at least anticipated.

The movie's central theme of mortality is without a doubt the reason that moviegoers didn't flock to theaters to see this one, but if you ask me the reason that those that did, didn't have reason to "love" it, is because it lacked one specific element that would've made it great. The acting was very solid, but wasn't exceptional. I wouldn't put all of that blame on the actors either, I don't think Eastwood's directing allowed them to expose their characters enough for the audience to connect with their struggles with the afterlife. But, that could also be attributed to Peter Morgan's script.

I sound like I'm lambasting this film, but truly I really liked it, I just thought it could've been a lot more and I'm disappointed that with the people attached to the project it wasn't,