When I heard that Robert Zemeckis was going do digitally de-age Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in his new film, Here, I was ambivalent. Why not just cast younger actors to play the younger versions of those characters? The answer came after seeing the film. He chose that route because there are too many storylines from multiple time periods and it would have been too confusing.
The film is shot from one camera angle that sees what happens to a spot of land from the time the asteroid killed the dinosaurs to modern day. The families seen in the film are Native Americans before colonization, Ben Franklin building a nearby house, a wife upset with her husband’s flying, the inventor of the Lazy Boy, and the main family is that of Tom Hanks’ character. His parents (Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly) buy the house and when Tom knocks up Robin, they end up spending their lives living in the house with the parents.
This film has a lot it wants to say about what both men and women give up to have family. About the regrets that come with those decisions. It falls short though, for there are simply too many families in the movie for me to care what happens to them.
The most interesting family is that of the Lazy Boy inventor, for he and his wife are so lively and effervescent that it’s fun to watch them. None of the other families have that kind of vitality, and it is hard to like any of the characters because of that.
Zemeckis tried hard to recapture the magic of Forest Gump, reimagining the history around Ben Franklin’s house with one camera angle, but the gimmick is more distracting than anything, especially when one of the digitally de-aged characters walks past the camera. It’s not exactly right. An artificial look that takes the viewer out of the story.
Three out of five stars. It’s watchable, and the cast tries hard, but that’s where my liking of the film ends.
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Becky Tyler Art and Photography 
When I heard that Robert Zemeckis was going do digitally de-age Tom Hanks and Robin Wright in his new film, Here, I was ambivalent. Why not just cast younger actors to play the younger versions of those characters? The answer came after seeing the film. He chose that route because there are too many storylines from multiple time periods and it would have been too confusing.
The film is shot from one camera angle that sees what happens to a spot of land from the time the asteroid killed the dinosaurs to modern day. The families seen in the film are Native Americans before colonization, Ben Franklin building a nearby house, a wife upset with her husband’s flying, the inventor of the Lazy Boy, and the main family is that of Tom Hanks’ character. His parents (Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly) buy the house and when Tom knocks up Robin, they end up spending their lives living in the house with the parents.
This film has a lot it wants to say about what both men and women give up to have family. About the regrets that come with those decisions. It falls short though, for there are simply too many families in the movie for me to care what happens to them.
The most interesting family is that of the Lazy Boy inventor, for he and his wife are so lively and effervescent that it’s fun to watch them. None of the other families have that kind of vitality, and it is hard to like any of the characters because of that.
Zemeckis tried hard to recapture the magic of Forest Gump, reimagining the history around Ben Franklin’s house with one camera angle, but the gimmick is more distracting than anything, especially when one of the digitally de-aged characters walks past the camera. It’s not exactly right. An artificial look that takes the viewer out of the story.
Three out of five stars. It’s watchable, and the cast tries hard, but that’s where my liking of the film ends.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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