Saturday, November 2, 2024

“HERE”

THE STORY – Multiple generations of couples and families inhabit the same home over the course of a century.

THE CAST – Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany & Kelly Reilly

THE TEAM – Robert Zemeckis (Director/Writer) & Eric Roth (Writer)

THE RUNNING TIME – 104 Minutes


Robert Zemeckis, the filmmaker behind such classic films as “Back To The Future,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?,” “Forrest Gump,” “Contact,” “Cast Away” and many more, has always been at the forefront of today’s cinematic technology and how it can be used to tell stories. His latest film, “Here,” an adaptation of Richard McGuire’s graphic novel of the same name, which was expanded upon from a 6-page comic strip in the late 1980s, presents an intriguing and ambitious concept: depicting the passage of time from the age of dinosaurs to the present, all within a single location using a fixed, static camera angle. However, in this “Forrest Gump” reunion with stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, and screenwriter Eric Roth, Zemeckis, unfortunately, bungles the magic trick, leaving audiences with a failed experiment that, in years’ time, we will be questioning if it was ever really here, to begin with.

The Young family has lived in a single spot of land for two generations. While the film follows many plotlines dating back to the prehistoric age, through colonial times, and up until the present, where the current Black owners are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and are forced to move, most of the screentime is dedicated to Richard (Hanks) and Margaret (Wright) a couple who go through the typical ups and downs of every day life from their early years of love, to having their first child, celebrating birthdays and holidays, growing apart and finally, growing old together as the film finds Richard bringing Margaret back to their long-time home after the last couple had packed up their things and left to reminisce on the life they shared there together while Margaret is now struggling with Alzheimer’s disease.

Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly play Richard’s parents, Al and Rose, while Michelle Dockery and Gwilym Lee play another couple who lived in the home years prior. There are many other characters who inhabit the space and are given their own storylines. However, the non-linear structure does not allow Zemeckis to successfully tell their stories with the type of narrative cohesion required to pull together the film’s central theme: time passes, people change, but the land remains the same. There’s almost a broad attempt by Zemeckis to have this experiment function as his “The Tree Of Life,” however, the limitations of the fixed camera placement for the entire duration of the runtime is a detriment that doesn’t allow him the creative freedom to explore such vast themes with the same emotional weight as what Malick accomplished, at times through swooping, gorgeous imagery.

That’s not to say the film doesn’t attempt to make what’s filling the frame engaging or dynamic. Zemeckis is still a storyteller who knows how to block and compose a scene together, even if the out-of-sequence editing (frequently done by displaying a white outlined box that will highlight certain key areas of the frame and transition us to what has changed within that limited space before occupying the rest of the film with the switch) and lack of camera movement leaves the viewer feeling disengaged. It doesn’t help that the story itself never gives Hanks or Wright anything unique to do, presenting us with the blandest story and characters possible that even actors of their caliber cannot elevate. When you have hundreds of years of human stories that could be told, and all your audience can think of is, “Can we just see the dinosaurs again?” you know that what you have just isn’t working. In fact, it’s quite baffling to discover all the actors have seemingly been given distinct directions to overact most of their scenes, resulting in performances that feel as artificial as the visual effects de-aging work.

Much discourse has already been made about the visual effects and how the filmmakers used Metaphysic’s AI-generated content so they could flawlessly integrate what the platform uncovered into a live shot on set. As stated earlier, Zemeckis has always been a pioneer and early adopter of visual effects and new technologies, so seeing him use AI to de-age Hanks and Wright’s characters is not surprising. Everyone wants to cry fowl and rally against a significant change within the industry, thinking they will be able to halt its progress or slow it down when, in reality, it has already taken hold. So, if you feel the work on display is inferior to other alternative methods Zemeckis could’ve gone with, or you prefer to cast younger actors instead, that’s totally fine. But there’s no denying AI is already amongst us in the films we watch and will likely continue to be. There are moments in “Here” where the visual effects are seamless, and there are times where they are uncanny and unconvincing (look no further than the film’s final pullback shot overlooking the land surrounding where we’ve spent the last hour and forty-five minutes). All in all, the technology still has a long way to go before becoming wholly convincing for audiences as it is convincing for creatives and studio executives as a tool for an expedited production process.

“Here” takes what, on paper, is a captivating idea for how to tell a story but tells the most uninteresting story imaginable with inauthentic performances, extraneous subplots, a tedious non-linear structure, and visual effects that distract rather than immerse. Despite its good intentions in wanting to comment on the passage of time, our connection to the land we live our very lives on, and a lovely score from Alan Silvestri (that sometimes feels it’s trying too hard to be another “Forrest Gump”), this fascinating cinematic experiment from Zemeckis ultimately (and sadly) falls flat, giving him yet another miss in his ever-growingly disappointing filmography in recent years.

THE RECAP

THE GOOD - Alan Silvestri's melodic score. The idea itself is fascinating in theory. It's nice seeing Hanks and Wright reunited on-screen again.

THE BAD - Overacting, a tedious non-linear narrative, restrictive storytelling, unconvincing visual effects and a dull story that isn't as smart or emotional as it thinks it is.

THE OSCAR PROSPECTS - None

THE FINAL SCORE - 4/10

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Matt Neglia
Matt Negliahttps://nextbestpicture.com/
Obsessed about the Oscars, Criterion Collection and all things film 24/7. Critics Choice Member.

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<b>THE GOOD - </b>Alan Silvestri's melodic score. The idea itself is fascinating in theory. It's nice seeing Hanks and Wright reunited on-screen again.<br><br> <b>THE BAD - </b>Overacting, a tedious non-linear narrative, restrictive storytelling, unconvincing visual effects and a dull story that isn't as smart or emotional as it thinks it is.<br><br> <b>THE OSCAR PROSPECTS - </b>None<br><br> <b>THE FINAL SCORE - </b>4/10<br><br>"HERE"