Blu-ray Review: Hereafter (2010)

Hereafter is a bit of an oddity, and certainly stands out from Clint Eastwood's previous directorial ventures. Normally a man who sticks to reality rather than fantasy, Hereafter represents a rare dip into the supernatural for him. It's a three-pronged narrative, following three characters, each of whom experience some connection with the 'hereafter': the afterlife. We first meet Marie (Cécile de France), a French journalist who survives the Indian Ocean tsunami of Boxing Day 2004. Next is Matt Damon's George, a clairvoyant with a genuine ability to speak to the dead, who's trying to leave his job behind. Finally, there are young Londoner twins Marcus and Jason (Frankie and George McLaren), the former left to fend for himself when his brother is involved in a traffic accident.

Each strand offers something of value, but each are also let down by serious shortcomings. Marie's introduction kicks the film off in spectacular fashion, with a stunning recreation of the tsunami that laid waste to so many coastlines. It's an incredibly well done sequence, merging stunning visual effects (earning the film its only Oscar nomination) with a visceral sense of danger, the camera being swept along by the current with the stricken characters. Frankly, these opening fifteen minutes are easily the best part of the film, and are almost worth seeing the film for on their own. However, the momentous event really has very little bearing on the rest of the film; even its status as a plot catalyst is only tangential (Marie nearly drowns and momentarily enters the hereafter).

George's thread is probably the most consistent overall, thanks in large part to Damon's committed, believable performance. He shares some endearing scenes with Bryce Dallas Howard, whom he meets at a cookery class, which are well written and played but unfortunately lead nowhere. The twins' storyline is sadly let down by very poor acting from the young performers; it's their first film role and it shows. Some line readings are so wooden they sound like they're from a school nativity. Clint must shoulder some blame - some of the takes used should never have been accepted, and you wonder whether his famous propensity for shooting at speed prevented him from getting the best from them.

These threads never really complement each other, and they are cut together like a TV show, without any finesse. Of course, they ultimately have to converge, but when they do it feels arbitrary, rather than the plotlines all coming to a natural conclusion. Moreover the scene in question is just strange: a book fair at which Derek Jacobi, playing himself, reads from Charles Dickens. George is there because he's a Dickens fan, Marie because she's publishing a book on her near death experience, and Marcus because, er, it's convenient for the movie. The hints of the hereafter feel out of place, at odds with Eastwood's insistence on drab realism everywhere else; the film comes across as a sort of Sixth Sense without ghosts or any real conviction. Also the film suffers from its multi-character approach; Marie's and George's stories could both be better served if the film just concentrated on one of them and developed their arcs further.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: Free / Version: Double Play / Discs: 2 / Distributor: Warner Bros.

Presentation
Despite the disc housing over four hours of 1080p content (see extras), the film looks pretty superb. Eastwood mercifully eases off his recent tendency to desaturate colours; here the palette is often vivid (particularly Thailand the film's opening), if still slightly tinted towards the colder end of the spectrum. Again, the tsunami sequence excels in its detail, and is also a high point in the soundtrack. The soundfield is fairly active overall, but dialogue is always prioritised.

Extras
The typical Warner Bros. no-frills approach: static menu, but no start-up trailers. There are 40 minutes or so of Focus Points - short featurettes that you can watch branched into the movie, for some reason, or alone - and some are more interesting than others. The ones that discuss whether the hereafter really exists may prompt eye-rolling, but there are interesting glimpses behind the scenes. Then there's the 90-minute documentary The Eastwood Factor, made by Clint obsessive Richard Schickel, narrated by Morgan Freeman. It's an overview of Eastwood's directorial career up to Invictus (no mention of Hereafter then), and it's a treat to see some of his classic efforts in 1080p, even if the doc is no more in-depth than a glorified clip show. Probably at least 60 minutes of it is footage from his films.

Warners seem to be experimenting with a new release strategy with Hereafter: You can only get it in Double Play (DVD & Blu-ray) or Triple Play (also Digital Copy) formats - not DVD only.



Summary
One of both director Eastwood's and writer Peter Morgan's weaker efforts, Hereafter never goes anywhere, despite highlights, mainly the tsunami sequence and the Damon/Bryce Dallas Howard scenes. Ironic that it's a film about the afterlife, because it's pretty much dead on arrival.