Dan at TIFF Review: Hereafter

Thanks for checking out our Hereafter Review

Genre: Drama / Thriller
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Staring: Matt Damon, Jay Mohr, Cécile De France, Bryce Dallas Howard, Frankie McLaren.
Released: 22 October 2010

THE GENERAL IDEA

Clint Eastwood’s new film follows a French Journalist with a near death experience, a blue-collar American with an extraordinary gift to connect with the afterlife, and a London school boy whose trying to figure out what exactly happens to people once they’ve passed away, after a tragic death in the family. A film depicting how death effects us all in different ways, Clint Eastwood takes us on a journey to die for.

THE GOOD

Anytime Clint Eastwood directs a film it comes with a lifetime of experience which is noticeable throughout the entire film. This film is just another example of Clint Eastwoods incredible eye for detail and a script that has a solid story to it.

The film begins with a wildly intense CGI filmed scene which I personally was not expecting at all from a Clint Eastwood film, but it was done wonderfully. That initial scene had me on the edge of my seat and my girlfriend glued to my arm, all around me I could hear the audience completely engaged in the film yelling “OHHHH!”and gasping through out the scene. That scene alone set the mood of the film and from that moment on there was not a single moment I looked at my watch wondering how long the film had been playing for which is a common habit I find myself doing.

Cécile De France was undeniably a treat to watch in this film. I’m sorry to say I haven’t seen any of her work that I am aware of before this film, but I definitely will watch some now that I’ve been introduced to this emotionally stunning actress. She kept the audience engaged even in her less dramatic scenes, which is a great asset for any actor to have.

Matt Damon was a perfect fit for this role, I personally wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to play a medium believably. I am glad I was wrong, the one thing I love about Matt Damon is his charming sense of humour. It is very important to me that when actors are given jokes in their lines that they deliver them with good comedic timing. Matt Damon does this and makes it all seem so natural. Which is clearly something he draws from his own personality (before the film played the cast was on stage as Clint Eastwood introduced the film, after Clint finished his short speech someone from the audience yelled out “Nice Dress!” to Bryce Dallas Howard in which Matt Damon responded “Thank you!”). He really got the character and showed us something that we haven’t seen before which was someone who was given the gift to connect to the afterlife but has no intention in doing so for he doesn’t want to spent his life talking about death.

Frankie McLaren played the youngest of the twin brothers. I cannot believe how talented some of these child actors are, especially with roles that have so many layers to them. Frankie plays marcus whose mother is a struggling heroin addict, and is struggling himself with the recent death of a close family member. On this child’s journey to find out what really happens when we pass on and if there is anyway to connect with our deceased loved ones, he takes on a emotional journey that is well balanced between laughter and depression.

THE BAD
Honestly, there is not much I could say that was bad about this film. It took me on a wonderful journey through a well written script performed by great actors and directed by an amazing man. The only thing that really comes to mind was that I wish they explored the depression Matt Damon’s character was feeling a little further. He does at one point call the gift a curse, in which we realize later on in the film what he means by that but I still wish we got to dwell in the darkness of his character just a little further. There are a couple more tiny things I did not like but to mention them would cause this review to be a spoiler which I do not wish to do so ahead of it’s national release date.

OVERALL

As I’ve already mentioned Clint Eastwood himself is a chunk of our film history. I feel lucky to have been at the world premiere sitting in the same theatre as the man himself. The film took a commonly used idea (man talks to afterlife) and turned it on it’s side (man wants nothing to do with the afterlife). Add in a great script, amazing actors, and one hell of a director and you got Hereafter.

Thank you for reading my review, I give Hereafter 9 out of 10