HEREAFTER

RYAN: What’s better than a marriage between Clint Eastwood and science fiction?

CAROLINE: I’d call Hereafter more supernatural than sci-fi. This movie was kept very hush-hush so we went in not knowing much about it other than it stars Matt Damon.

RYAN: I liked Clint Eastwood’s last three movies much better than this one. I did somewhat enjoy Hereafter, but it’s not like I’m going to buy the DVD or watch it on TV in the future. Once is enough with this movie.

CAROLINE: It had a few great moments but was overall very slow. It wasn’t necessarily boring, but definitely slow. I really liked the cast, especially the drop-dead gorgeous Belgian actress.

RYAN: She was amazing. Some parts of this movie were predictable for me and some were surprising. It’s basically three different stories and you’re wondering if they’re ever going to intersect. I liked each section equally, and you’ll recognize some other actors in there like Jay Mohr.

CAROLINE: Could he look any worse? How the mighty have fallen since the Jerry Maguire days.

RYAN: I found the twin boys a little stiff as actors. Their line delivery was like they were reading.

CAROLINE: I didn’t think that at all. I really liked them. I found the performance of one of theirs at the end very moving. I totally wept, by the way. This is not a movie that will make you laugh. It’s pretty heavy.

RYAN: This movie reminded me thematically of Ghost, What Dreams May Come, The Sixth Sense and movies like that. It’s all about communicating with the dead, so it’s nothing too original.

CAROLINE: This movie definitely didn’t blow me away the way some of Clint’s other recent movies have. It’s still well made and beautifully shot, but the story didn’t grab me like Gran Torino or Changeling did. Maybe part of the reason is the script. After seeing the movie, we read that the dude who wrote it made all kinds of revisions based on notes he’d gotten from Steven Spielberg, but Clint used the original script regardless. Kind of strange. I would have loved to see the rewritten version.

RYAN: Me too. The score, although sparse, is really beautiful. Clint Eastwood does a lot of his own music, and it’s always really good. My problem is that I felt like the climax of the movie and the best part happened right at the beginning, so the rest was a really slow burn. It’s a bummer when the most exciting part of the movie is done after 15 minutes. I think Clint is a brilliant director though; every shot is so carefully considered and the acting is great.

CAROLINE: The tsunami scene from the trailer really is amazing. You feel like you’re there, and it’s horrifying. I actually gasped out loud at one point. Other than that though, I wasn’t as emotionally invested as I could have been. I didn’t leave the theater thinking, “That was a great movie.”

RYAN: I could see it getting some Oscar consideration due to the topic and the weight of it. I loved all the scenes with Bryce Dallas Howard and I wish she were in it more.

CAROLINE: Her scenes with Matt Damon were awesome. Who knew they’d have such great chemistry?

— BOTTOM LINE —

CAROLINE: I enjoyed this movie but I didn’t adore it. It’s very slow, and though I wasn’t bored, I could see how someone might be. It’s not Clint Eastwood’s best, but it’s certainly better than your average movie, if you can handle the heavy topic.

RYAN: Aside from the exciting visuals at the top of the movie which actually made me cover my mouth in shock, I can’t say the rest of the film was great enough to merit a big screen viewing. I do love Clint Eastwood enough though to say you should see it in the theater.

— RATING —