HEREAFTER 2.0**
What is this movie about. Is it about the supernatural. Well only if you do not believe in an afterlife or the hereafter in which case you’d have to rely upon the idea of the supernatural to consider the concept. I think the subject of afterlife must have been on Director, Clint Eastwood’s mind. After all, he is rapidly approaching 80 years old and his own mortality. His last film, “Gran Torino” had so much story and feeling. So, I was surprised at how plodding this movie was… partly because it is way too long by at least 30 minutes. After a great opening (a simulation of what it must have been like for those caught in the 2004 tsunami), a young French woman briefly has what has become referred to as a near death experience (“NDE”). But the movie, unfortunately fails to capture this eventful moment. It's almost as if Eastwood has never read the numerous accounts of those who experienced near death. With all the new computer generation/special effects available, he could have done so much better…at a minimum, there should have been a glorious 'tunnel of light'… but all we get is out-of-focus silhouettes.

This drama is about three lonely people each living in different countries whose lives become connected in an unforeseeable, yet touching way. The story centers on Matt Damon, an American, who apparently has the psychic ability of contacting the recently departed, however, he believes that this "gift" is a "curse" because it renders him a social outcast. There is also the French woman who had the tsunami NDE and a troubled British boy grieving over the loss of his twin brother. The NDE was so life-altering to the young French lady that she leaves her primary job as a political reporter and writes a book about her NDE experience and how the media trivializes the phenomena. Her book references her research and discusses all the expert testimony that supports the persuasive facts about NDE experiences, and the correlation between science and the afterlife. And then…the movie tells us nothing. It simply glosses over anything substantial in the way of research. The question to me, and the main problem I had with the movie is why start the conversation, if you aren't going to offer even a small hint of the answers? From the testimonials/research of those who have experienced an NDE there is far more involved than just a chemical reaction to the body starting to shut down. Much more. But, all we are left with in this movie is the frustration of why not tell us more.

My reaction to this movie is in the minority compared with most of the critics who are giving the movie high praise. Well, it just didn’t move me. It was slow and it missed the chance to explore a fascinating subject. Instead, it only hinted at the “hereafter” and those who have possibly glanced at it in some fashion.

Clark