IR Film Review: HERE [Miramax/Sony]
Using forced perspective as the basis for a film is one thing but when director Robert Zemeckis does it, it can take on a whole other level. “Here” he tries many things and has a fantastic script but only achieved an elative level a few times and once when it simply allows itself to be lyrical. Tom Hanks and Robin Wright are at the center of the film but it is actually Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly who function more as its heart. The moment mentioned is when Reilly is holding her baby and dancing with him. This baby is likely literally Tom Hanks character as it cuts to a different time frame where Reilly is in a different headspace. The use of a mosaic structure (much like a paint box approach was done near 30 years ago in director Peter Greenaway’s “Prospero’s Books” but as an exposition tool). The aspect here of moving back and forth in time from Benjamin Franklin to native Americans is quite intensive but not overwhelmingly connective.
The 1920s era and right before is much more interesting but doesn’t make as much impact as the core family. Again the forced pane is what makes it work but like many of Zemeckis’ outings, it is more about the exercise of creating something like this versus the experience it provides. Maybe that is the necessity of maturity within him as a filmmaker. But that one moment paints towards that feeling that “Up” created through its whole opening sequence. Despite any technical marvel, that throttle or ethereal point can be the core of the movie experience. Here the story is about loss and regret and the simple nature of being. In that way it is very effective but not transformative (except in that one moment).
Maybe “Forrest Gump” simply has the ability of retrospective though that film grew from small beginnings to Oscar winner. This is like DiCaprio and Winslet in many ways returning together in “Reservation Road” versus “Titanic” or Turner and Douglas doing “War of The Roses” after “Romancing The Stone.” The spark is still there but the energy is different. It is only the essence of transformation in the final minute that makes it take off again. “Here” is a very nice piece of filmmaking that does everything right. It would just help if it pulled at the heartstrings just a little more than it did. A-
Tim Wassberg
