Here

Thanks to films like Back To The Future, Forest Gump, Cast Away, & The Polar Express, I'm always intrigued by the "next Robert Zemeckis project". In Here, the esteemed director once again shows his technical prowess and innovation--if lacking in the clear storytelling beats his films are usually known for.

For a very basic overview, Here tells the story of a single plot of land--shot from one angle--over a prolonged period of time (dinosaurs to 2020+). Ostensibly it focuses on the lives and family that Richard (Tom Hanks) & Margaret (Robin Wright) cultivate in that space over a lifetime.

There is no doubt that Here is a technical achievement in cinematography from Zemeckis and DP Don Burgess. Making anything compelling for a single fixed camera point seems to violate the very rules of cinema itself, but it works well enough here to hold viewer interest. "Static" does not equal "boring" in any way.

It is also a return--whether via de-aged AI or present countenance--to the great "everyman" roles that Hanks thrives in. He gives a wonderful performance and his chemistry with Wright has remained true over the years.

Yet, there is something missing from Here and I believe it to be, ironically enough, a lack of time in the Hanks/Wright angle. Though it would violate the entire concept to remove the other character arcs altogether, I found myself not at all invested in the Native Americans, Revolutionary patriots, or 1940s inventors who build up the house's "backstory", if you will. I really only cared about Richard & Margaret (and their orbit) from an emotional angle.

So, despite a few heartwarming/thoughtful moments and some fine technical prowess, Here has its ceiling capped by the needs of that technicality. Perhaps if it had been cradle-to-grave leads on screen things would be different, but the broadness in scope also means a narrowing of time in any one area (to the overall film's detriment).

LIKES:

Good Acting

Realistic On Many Facets Of Life

Dynamic use of Set/Setting

Creative Transitions

De Aging Technology

Some Fascinating Connections At Times

I loved the Artistic Angle At the Times

Relevant/Relatable

Emotional

Summary: The movie's advertising has not lied to you, Here is a film that is truly one of the most unique concepts we've seen in a while. The movie relies on one to enjoy the single-camera/location fixation and tell a story about time's impact on life and the people moving through it. Zemeckis has accomplished this task on many levels and managed to utilize the space well and keep the shot dynamic despite being so static. Dynamic set changes help make this piece fascinating, with the idea of furniture changes being a characteristic of the house itself that is impressive and serves as a metaphorical window to life. I loved seeing this room lived in and the families who each called the villa home, seeing their interactions, auras, and personalities give a different light to the scene and tell their own micro-stories. Transitions occurred via outlines of photographs, drawing attention before rippling into a new scene, the technique is smooth and seldom overdone for me. It held many facets that were creative but never lost the anchor to realism to make this a nice, balanced piece.

As for the story and acting, an A-list of talent has helped bring this movie to life and achieve the goal of being a look at life. Here is a film that relies heavily on being relevant and the cast to make that relevance come to life. In regards to the story, it seldom bleeds away from people living life, taking snippets of various periods and reflecting them in the times. The ups and downs are beautifully captured on screen, and Zemeckis' vision helps drive the concepts home and hit you with that emotional punch this movie promised. When the relevant tales hit me, it only further strengthened my connection to the film, and I found my inner self reflecting on what this movie had to teach me. The acting is there to give words to the visions, with much of the dialog poetic without being too Shakespearean in its delivery. Bettany was a surprise to see, and though not quite as engaging or dynamic as his Disney films, it still manages to impress me with a stellar performance of the Boomer generation facing the fast changes befalling the world. Wright's return to the screen is fierce as her character is torn between fun and frenzy, a brilliant portrayal of struggles that befell so many in her spot during the great decades of change. Hanks is, of course, just as talented as he has been, incorporating elements of his other characters into each moment of his life and doing it with that same class and vigor he almost always brings to the screen. It's a chemistry that works, this family atmosphere appearing so natural and almost authentic with strong leads to guide the characters and never fall too much into the Hollywood portrayals. The age portrayal technology also gets props for the work it did to make the impossible possible, and though I'm not the biggest fan of the use of such tactics, this was the right movie to use it.

DISLIKES:

Incoherent Story Angles

Very Ambiguous Connections

Boring At Times

Difficult to Connect To Most Tales

Sad And Depressing

Perhaps Too Artistic

Summary: Yet, an artistic movie comes with a potential risk in modern commodities of movie making, and this film amplifies those costs that come with such a unique approach. My biggest complaint comes with the non-linear storytelling and the sort of random drops into some of the stories. The tale uses one of the periods to serve as visual chapter headings to usher the next theme of life but serves little to the story and, at times, feels short-changed and worthless. This, unfortunately, extends to just about every other tale in the movie that is not related to Hanks, making them feel last minute and unnecessary. A few times, there are some clever connections if you pay attention, but for the most part, the ambiguous and chaotic jumps between lives did little to make an engaging story worth the diversion time. Eventually, the sadder parts of life start to become the focus, and for people like me, a bombardment of sadness doesn't usually entertain or make me enjoy the film. The last third of the film is hard to watch, and those who might have recent or traumatic episodes in their lives need to be cautious not to get triggered. If you are like me, then getting drowned in the beautiful moments of sadness becomes overwhelming and excessive, dragging out the film further when the pace Is tripped by the unnecessary divergence mentioned earlier. When that happens, the movie starts to really fall in terms of enjoyment and becomes a bit of a chore to get through despite the smaller runtime.

The VERDICT Zemeckis' gamble pays off in terms of making a movie that just captures life without being a documentary. Here has beautiful visual storytelling that focuses on life in one room unfolding and giving time to human qualities. The film teaches lessons using simplistic measures and is creative in showing evolution from one angle without becoming too fixated on being abstract or unique. Solid acting and picking relevant points in life should provide relatable moments for a variety of audience members, which may be both a curse and a blessing, depending on the type of viewer you are. Helming all of this is a brilliant cast to deliver realistic lines and balanced performances and establish that familial charm movies like this one thrive upon for their material. Those very qualities are also the limitation of the movie, primarily in the haphazard storytelling that Zemeckis and company took with Here. Jumping between so many periods without solid connections made many tales feel irrelevant and unnecessary. As this compounds, the movie starts to feel like a chore, especially near the sadder parts of the film and begins to make the film boring. Beautiful and realistic as it can be, if you aren't ready to handle such things, Here is going to fall short for many people. Balancing all of this, Zemeckis' artistry deserves praise for originality, but is such an approach worthy of the theater? In my opinion, no. It's a film that can be appreciated in most homes and gives the same message. Thus, my scores for Here are:

Drama: 6.5-7.0 Movie Overall: 6.0.

Much has been made in the advanced publicity for this movie of reuniting the "Forrest Gump" gang, Hanks, Wright, and director Zemeckis. While that is all appropriate it in a way takes away from what this movie is really about. It has lots of stars playing lots of interesting characters but at its core it is a story about a location, a piece of land, a room in a house, and what happens there over the eons.

I say eons because the story actually begins on a prehistoric Earth when dinosaurs roamed then met their eventual fate when asteroids allegedly wiped them out. We see a time-lapse of the land changing, of vegetation growing, of Native Americans arriving and hunting. But always this one same plot of land.

Then, in the 1700s we see trees being felled and a large house being built, we later learn it was a Franklin home, yes that family which included Benjamin. We get quick glimpses of historical events, like the revolt against England, the early beginnings of aviation, the flu epidemic of 1918, WW2, student deferments during the Vietnam time, the invention of television, the 1960s arrival of The Beatles. However none of that is depicted dryly, the story shows the people and how they participated in or were influenced by the changes. Many times a TV running in the background helps us know the time, like watching Jane Fonda exercise or a clip from the old Dean Martin and Ed Sullivan TV shows.

The unique cinematography technique is to use a static camera and standard focal length from one spot in the room where family activities commonly took place. About the same view as a person in one seat in a theater viewing a stage play that covers many generations. Or a person sitting in the corner of that room for several hundred years.

Tom Hanks is Richard. His family were not the original residents of the house but are mainly featured in it.

Robin Wright is Margaret who eventually marries Richard. They have children, Richard puts his painting passion on hold to get a job that makes money to support his growing family. They get old in the house, and as the story ends both of them are not far from the ends of their lives.

My wife and I watched this movie at home, streaming on Prime. Because we are in our 70s and have seen a lot, and can identify with many of the tings depicted here, we found it totally absorbing and entertaining. Maybe younger viewers would not identify so well. But we consider this a fine movie, one of the better ones we have seen in recent years.

Edit: Two months later I got the DVD of this movie from my public library and watched it again. The experience was even better, knowing where it was headed and being able to appreciate some of the finer points. The disc also has an interesting extra which talks about and shows the technique that was used to de-age the faces of the main characters.

Usually I do not write reviews but I must admit that this movie left an emotional impression on me and so I highly recommend watching it. Although the movie as a movie could be more engaging and exciting, the idea of the movie itself and the impression it leaves on the viewer is powerful. This movie is spiritual in the sense that it conveys to the viewer that life is brief and that love and family are the most important parts of life. It also shows that history repeats itself in different ways and that some things are permanent or at least more permanent than our individual lives. All happens Here.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about 'Here'. There are parts of it I loved, and parts of it I didn't care for. I'm a nostalgic guy and this kind of film should've hit me really hard. And it did, but not until right at the end. I feel like they could've squeezed more juice out of the concept.

All the story arcs in the movie feel very underwhelming and un-film-worthy. And at first I thought that was a strange decision, but thinking about it more I can at least see what they were going for. They wanted it to be more relatable, so that you'd look around the room you're watching the film in and think about all the memories you've had. Chances are no one has had a baby in the room you're sitting in (you never know) but a lot of the other stuff has likely happened.

The film has a hard hitting final scene that I really appreciated. It was a great way to end the film. 6/10 doesn't quite feel like the right rating for this film, but no number really does. It's a funny one like that.