Here (2024)
Directed by: Robert Zemeckis
Premise: A fictional story documenting the comings and goings of a particular plot of land over centuries. Most of the film dramatizes a family’s living room over two generations from the post-war period to the early twenty-first century.
What Works: There is a lot to admire in Here. Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis has frequently told stories in interesting ways with innovative use of filmmaking technology as seen in Forrest Gump, The Polar Express, and Welcome to Marwen. Here plays a bit like an experimental film. The camera is locked in a fixed shot for almost the entire movie and the majority of Here looks upon the goings-on of a living room in a middle-class family home. The continuity between these different moments and the way they are weaved together is impressive. A lot of Here is about the relationship between Richard and Margaret, played by Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. The actors have been de-aged through makeup and other effects and the illusion is convincing. Their story plays out in the home Richard’s parents purchased in the post-war years; Richard and Margaret come to live there and raise their own family. The portrait of Richard and Margaret’s relationship is compelling and the narrative dramatizes poignant moments. The standout performance of Here is provided by Paul Bettany as Richard’s father. Bettany is given the most interesting material and his character has some challenging moments.
What Doesn’t: The story of Richard and Margaret and their family is buried in a lot of extraneous information. We see prehistoric life, Native American people, colonial Americans, and other homeowners passing through this space. None of these other people get enough screentime to distinguish the characters or tell a meaningful story. Instead, these subplots crowd and dilute Richard and Margaret’s story. That gets to the larger problem of Here. It doesn’t suggest any meaning. Richard and Margaret’s story is a familiar tale of middleclass ennui in which a couple compromise their hopes and dreams in the name of domestic stability and financial security. It’s a scenario we’ve seen before in Revolutionary Road and American Beauty and while that idea is well dramatized in Here this film doesn’t add much to the concept. The history of this plot of land does not change or enhance the meaning of Richard and Margaret’s story. Events are told out of sequence. The shifts in time between various time periods come across arbitrary. There are no ironic juxtapositions between these subplots and the organization of scenes comes across random and unfocused.
Bottom Line: Like many experimental films, Here is more interesting as a technical exercise than it is as a narrative or a character study. The filmmakers have admirable ambition but they lose sight of the story and themes.
Episode: #1022 (November 10, 2024)