Directed By Robert Zemeckis

Starring – Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Kelly Reilly

The Plot – A generational story about families and the special place they inhabit, sharing in love, loss, laughter, and life.

Rated PG-13 for thematic material, some suggestive material, brief strong adult language and smoking.

Here – Official Trailer (HD) (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

From an experimental concept, ‘Here’ is a fascinatingly daring approach on the history within one established setting, with a single manipulated frame for the entire movie being used to conjure and stitch together the lives of so many people who have called it home. When I saw the trailers, I naturally expected problems within such a concept in long-form narrative, but it does effortlessly feed into this thought-provoking appeal of the many lives and events that have been housed in the place we spend a majority of our lives, and though it’s not as profoundly endearing or emotionally effective as 2017’s ‘A Ghost Story’ on the take, it does push Zemeckis deeper as a master storyteller than anything else over the previous decade of his work, without the typical conveniences of storytelling that merit a variety of settings and characters to keep concepts fresh. Robert has those here, but they’re obviously limited in ways that force him to value so much more of the film’s commanding visuals, with the editing here continuously working overtime to weave us in and out of these many time periods, with the room practically transforming before our very eyes. While I definitely had issues with the collective editing techniques, I can say that it faithfully subscribes to the notion of life continuously transpiring before our very eyes, with blink and you might miss it kinds of transitions that quite literally reshape and contort the thematic similarities of ties that bind so many of them. Beyond the many shifts, the production values of set design intricacies go a long way towards distinguishing the time frames of various arcs, with evolving technology and stylings that feel so particular to their respective generations. This is something that Zemeckis has made a career out of, as the obvious commander of the ‘Back to the Future’ franchise, but here those visual cues have a far greater relevance to the age, vulnerabilities and limitations of its various characters that feel tangibly influential as something far greater than being topical, and though the song choices of the soundtrack echo these decisions with selections that are a bit too on-the-nose for the decades they inspire, the wardrobe and set decoration are impactful towards illustrating how much time has passed from one scene to the next, accommodating a greater grip on reality on the outside world than the single window in this living room that can only articulate so much of the neighboring conditions. The performances are hit and miss, as a result of inconsistent opportunities within the material, but Hanks and Paul Bettany certainly give their all towards inscribing some form of empathy and investment towards their respective characters, with heartily complex personalities that exuberated chances taken within their portrayals. Hanks definitely brings along the radiant charisma and occasionally manic energy in deliveries that have made him a household icon, but there’s a sincerity amid a longing of regret to Richard that makes him all the more fascinating the longer the film persists, forcing Hanks to humble with the kind of humanity pertaining to a character passed up by the glow of an American dream too bright for his character to completely realize. As for Bettany, he makes the most of his screen time with emotional spontaneity that speaks volumes to a war-torn veteran incapable of living in a booming work force, with Paul commanding the opportunities with combustible intensity that continuously allows him to stand out in a crowded room of reputably accomplished actors.

NEGATIVES

My preconceived perceptions of ‘Here’ and specifically its single frame gimmick catering to a short film or stage play were met with proof in the proverbial pudding, as Zemeckis latest is a humiliating mess in execution that never finds a comfortable rhythm fighting against the many elements that continue to flounder its appeal. The first of those responsible parties is easily the editing, which is so spontaneously intrusive that it often hints at the next scene before rightfully concluding the previous one, with an outlining box giving us a glimpse into the future, while the rest of the frame still remains in the present. This glaringly distracting emphasis not only abruptly halts any kind of development that we receive in these brief glances, with each of them grounding the momentum each time the gimmick shifts to the next one, but also undercuts the opportunity of investment in caring about a single one of these people, with little time given to any of the families besides Richard’s. The easiest thing to fix would be to make this just about Richard’s family, or to even give this a linear structure in sequential order, but the reality is that the production feels overtly concerned with representation among cultures, and while it’s a noble intention, there’s a black family involved that are used so sparingly that I often forgot that they were there in the first place. ‘Here’ is also superbly sappy and melodramatic, both with Alan Silvestri’s meanderingly manipulative score intruding on the actor’s portrayals like a wet blanket, as well as some of the most hollow dialogue that I have experienced in any movie this year, that thinks it’s so much smarter than it actually is. Repetitious lines pertaining to time flying frequently flying by, or exhausting use of the word “Here”, are bad enough, but when the actors are steered to practically look directly into the camera as they deliver unsubtle developments, as a result of its camera placement that obscures their emotionality, it makes the intention feel as obvious as a script outlining such, making so little of the interactions feel ingrained by the kind of naturalism or believability that doesn’t telegraph the many foreshadowed developments that all eventually materialize by film’s end. Speaking of the camera placement, it’s difficult enough to believe the film’s ‘Forest Gump’ approach to so many world-changing inventions and pivotal figures being a part of the same neighborhood, but it’s even less believable that so many of the interactions within this family take place in one room within this massive house, particularly when it’s overstuffed with people. It’s obviously a necessity to feed into the gimmick that only reaches so far, but it doesn’t make that gimmick any more immersive when we’re forced to believe that the audience’s accessibility is always in the right place at the right time, with actors and their aforementioned dialogue continuously feeling like they’re speaking to the audience, instead of each other. Finally, the film obviously uses de-aging technology to change the appearances of Hanks and Wright to match their teenage likenesses during the movie’s initial engagements, and like almost every other film that has used it, there’s an uncanny effect to their projection that unrelentingly distracts each time we come into any kind of close proximity with the actor’s faces. While not exactly the same kind of stone eyes as ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’, the wrinkle-free resolution makes the textures of Hanks and Wright’s feel rubbery and artificial, which is a lot harder to hide with unsubtle lighting schemes inside of this room that already have a difficult time of synching up with the artificial properties outside of the window. To those special effects, the green-screen captures aren’t as bad when we’re just staring out a window throughout 90% of the movie, but when the house in question hasn’t been erected yet, and we’re just left with trees and surrounding jungles, there’s a distinct feeling of artificiality in the backdrops that are surprisingly sloppy for someone of Zemeckis stature in the industry, sticking out like a sore thumb primarily during sequences when characters never venture beyond a certain distance from the camera, in order to intrude upon the green-screen projection that so obviously encapsulates them.

OVERALL
‘Here’ unfortunately proves that Robert Zemeckis’ best days might very well be behind him, with a fascinating gimmick made dully staged by the kind of lifeless execution that rids the movie of meaningfully balanced sentimentality. Despite the ambition of a dastardly daring attempt, or on-board performances from Tom Hanks and Paul Bettany, the dejected consistency of its editing and sequencing, as well as horrendously artificial visuals, make it difficult to maintain investment or even patience in the proceedings, enacting a leaky and crumbling foundation that implodes by the tremendous pressure put on from abiding by a device that adds so little meaning or merit to the household.

My Grade: 5/10 or D