Let’s hope the paranormal activity in Paranormal Activity 2 is more exciting than the paranormal activity in Hereafter.
This critic opted to get all critic-y and chose the advance screening of the film with the higher pedigree. Hereafter is directed by Oscar winning genius director Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby) and reunites him with his Invictus star, Oscar winner Matt Damon. At first glance, it appears to be Eastwood’s first attempt at a supernatural thriller, but as you might expect, it also attempts to be something more – some kind of exploration on the meaning of life and death.
What it is is horribly disappointing and incredibly boring.
It starts off spectacularly – a French journalist (Cecile de France) is swept up in a tsunami and goes through a near-death experience. It’s a fantastic sequence which the rest of the movie never lives up to. She changes how she approaches her life and career. Meanwhile in London, a young boy suffers the loss of his twin brother (played by Frankie and George McLaren) and is obsessed with trying to find out what happens when we die. Finally, in the States, psychic George (Damon) leads a sad, dull and mundane life because he thinks his ability to communicate with the departed is a curse and not a gift.
They are three separate stories with a common theme, and you wait for the payoff to find out how they may be connected. You wait a long, long time. de France’s storyline spends way too much time in the financial world she covers (the subtitles force you to read and pay attention – and also force boredom upon you). You keep waiting for something interesting to happen to George’s sad sack character – there’s hope when a romance starts to develop with a classmate at a cooking school, but the plot is disposed of and potential leading lady Bryce Dallas Howard is wasted. The story of the twins is the most interesting, as you can’t help but root for this boy to find some closure.
The flaws could possibly have been forgiven if there was a payoff. There really isn’t. It’s a flat and unsatisfying end. One would have trusted Eastwood to pick a better project, and one would expect Oscar nominee Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen) to have written a better story.
Fans of ghost stories will more likely be better off spending their money on Paranormal Activity 2, where another family sets up a surveillance camera to see the ghostly happenings in their home. One would hope that’s our Halloween treat, since Clint Eastwood and Hereafter played a trick on us.
Hereafter and Paranormal Activity 2 are each playing at Pittsford Plaza, Tinseltown, Loews Webster 12 and Regal Cinemas at Culver Ridge, Eastview, Greece Ridge & Henrietta.
Hereafter and Paranormal Activity 2 are each playing at Pittsford Plaza, Tinseltown, Loews Webster 12 and Regal Cinemas at Culver Ridge, Eastview, Greece Ridge & Henrietta.
Also in Rochester theatres of interest to sci-fi fans:
Comments
I feel really bad for Matt Damon's character when he is eating alone. Do you agree?
He should just turn on the TV
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