Last year, Eastwood made Invictus, the story of Nelson Mandela and his country, South Africa. The film didn’t make a lot of money at the box office. It seems the audience has a hard time accepting an Eastwood film without him grunting or beating someone up.
Eastwood’s latest film is Hereafter, which tells the story of three people dealing after-death experiences. The first story is of Marie, played by Cecile de France, a French news anchor. While on vacation, she runs for her life from a tsunami -- a giant tidal wave that does a huge amount of damage and washes people away.
The tsunami scene is so realistic that it’s frightening. We get the experience of what it may feel like facing such a disaster. Marie is thought to be dead, but she comes out of it with a “crossing over” experience that changes her life.
The next story is of two young twins, Marcus and Jason (Frankie and George McLaren), who have a unique bond. One of the twins dies in a car accident. The remaining twin has a hard time dealing with the loss. He goes on a search for psychics to help him communicate with his dead brother. Most of the so-called psychics prove to be fake or not too helpful. On the Internet, the twin finds George Lonegan -- a psychic who doesn’t do any readings anymore.
Matt Damon (Bourne series, Ocean’s 11 series) plays George, a man who’s haunted by his ability to communicate with the dead. One of the elements of Hereafter I really like was that the film explained how George got his psychic sense: During a childhood surgery he died several times. He emerged from surgery with the ability to speak with the spirits of the dead.
I don’t want to give too much away, but I will tell you Eastwood does a great job on having the three stories converge. The ending is one I would not have predicted, but it was perfect. Hereafter is a cinematic, heartfelt ride that’s long but worth the time.
Edited by Michele Ristich Gatts
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