Here is the last of my past week’s trifecta of films.
Hereafter (Matt Damon, Cecile De France, Jay Mohr, Bryce Dallas Howard) – George Lonegan (Matt Damon) is a man with the power to see into the past. He is a real psychic, which he views as much more of a curse than a blessing. Bestowed with this power, he spent his early professional life “seeing dead people” on behalf of their desperate loved ones. But he hated it. So he gave it up, much to the dismay of his loving entrepreneur of a brother, Billy (Jay Mohr of Jerry McGuire and TVs Gary Unmarried).
Meanwhile, a French TV anchor and journalist (the talented Cecile De France) on holiday almost dies in a tsunami, has a near-death experience, and comes back a changed woman. She finds herself distracted and writes a book about her adventure into the hereafter. Simultaneously, in London, a young boy grieves over the death of his twin brother, and is sent to a foster home when his addicted mother tries to get straight.
While Clint Eastwood’s latest film explores some provocative ground, his three stories are destined to intersect. If you don’t want to know what happens, skip the next part and go see the movie.
What we don’t know if just where (it turns out to be London), how (at an international book fair) and whether it will be hokey, romantic, or all-too-coincidental (you decide this one). With Clint’s signature homemade score providing the pacing he desires, Eastwood takes us on a lovely trip through Paris, London and San Francisco without detracting from the plot. Hereafter is an engrossing story told meticulously yet in a manner that leaves the audience both uplifted and hopeful. With excellent acting by Damon and De France, this is a wonderful film that could receive Oscar nods.