Review of Hereafter (2010) by Lynnae S — 12 Jul 2011

I was unsure about this one. For most of the time, it was very easy to watch and I wasn't really bored. But it had several cheesy/silly/overly sentimental moments that seemed out of place and in the end it seemed to follow no real purpose. It was just drifting and the ending seemed to come out of nowhere (a deleted scene or something we have to assume?). And that kid wasn't very convincing. However, Clint Eastwood's presence was obvious so that helped. And there were a decent performance from Matt Damon. The special effects were too bad, although one would wonder how it beat 'Tron Legacy' to a Best Special Effects Oscar nomination. The opening Tsunami scene was quite good, and effective, but the problem with that is that it was the film's highlight but, like the London Tube bombings (which make a brief appearance), it is down-played.

But really, I don't know whether this film is okay or poor. It's definitely not as fun as 'Gran Torino' or nowhere near as compelling as something like 'Unforgiven'. I don't know. Maybe it was just better than I expected. But then, upon further reflection, you expect better from those involved. I guess there are too many problems to save this film.