Hereafter

Like Invictus this movie left me wanting. The script and the acting were decent and the storyline was pretty good. All of the elements that are usually part of a good movie were there, they just weren't put together in the right way. This is typical for Eastwood, at least recently. To illustrate my point let's talk about Invictus. Great actors (Damon and Freeman) did a great job. The story was true and inspiring, but the movie was boring. It was supposed to be about a rugby team that inspired a nation...but did you ever really feel inspired? During the final rugby match did any of Matt Damon's "C'mon guys, let's win" speeches ever give you goosebumps? Now compare it to other legendary sports hero movies: Remember the Titans, Blind Side, Rocky, even Seabiscuit. All of those movies at least gave you that inspiring moment that made you really experience the story on a personal level. Can you even name anyone on the Rugby team other than Damon's character? How about the coach? How many people even understood what was happening during the last rugby match (outside of people who play rugby)? After leaving Invictus I was tired not inspired. 

Eastwood is known in Hollywood for doing movies ahead of schedule and under budget, which normally you would think of as a good thing, but in his case it's not. He often overlooks or completely ignores problems with plot, character development, acting, and mood. With Hereafter the biggest issue was character development and the direction the story took. Without spoiling anything (in case you do see it) certain characters who you think are going to play a major role are just dropped completely and a certain theme (life after death and the common thread in near-death-experience stories) is explored throughout most of the movie and then in the end it is just ignored and it ends up being a love story...essentially. The movie gets a C, which isn't terrible, just average. If you thoroughly enjoyed Invictus you will probably like this movie, but if you are like me and it just didn't do it for you, this movie will likely fall into the same category.