Hereafter / Rated PG-13 for one disaster scene followed by 2 hours of speaking in soft tones.
Hereafter is about the after life. Otherwise it wouldn’t be called Hereafter it would be called something else altogether. The BIG opening scene is available for viewing in any of the trailers or previews. After that there is a lot of quiet talking. Except when lead actor, Matt Damon is touching someone. Anyone actually. MD’s character can talk to the dead. He is a psychic. Whenever he takes anyone’s hands or touches them in any way there is a jarring musical note and an electronic whooshing sound. This is a hint that he is about to communicate with the touchees recently deceased relative. I once had this happen to me personally. It was at a carnival. When I entered Madame Muneesuchre’s tent she immediately put out her cigarette, stuck the salami she was cutting under her table and looked at me very concerned. I gave her the money she requested and she did the same; took my hands…..then there was the loud whooshing sound which was most likely caused by the salami she had consumed. When I left 15 minutes later I had not communicated with any of my ancestors. I did learn from the odd speaking voice emerging from her lips that, while long since dead, both Henny Youngman and Rodney Dangerfield were still really funny guys. The advice Henny gave me was “take my clairvoyant, please”. Rodney mentioned that even in the Hereafter he was “getting no respect“. The Hereafter has a big list of production talent. Along with Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall the production team includes Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood. Clint also directs and wrote the low key melancholy music score. He also helped the on set lunch caterer set up the tables. The locations are all in the places pictured on screen…..not Canada. This includes San Francisco, Paris and London. The big opening scene appears to be an island in SE Asia or the Caribbean. It’s actually Maui. The Sheraton on the Kanapaali coast and a lot of CGI effects make up the BIG scene. The story concerns the trials and tribulations of MD’s character and his gift/curse. Also involved are a BIG scene survivor from France trying to cope with her experience and a lad in London who is having problems after the loss of a family member. While huge sums of money appears to have been spent, like my visit to the tent of Madame Moneysucker, I’m not sure they have got their money’s worth. After the BIG opening scene there is mostly a lot of talking and not much happening. Except when MD’s character touches someone and …..well, I‘ve already told you. My advice. Wait for the DVD. Stay away from Madame Salami‘s tent. There is no charge for this advice. Whoosh.
Rated 2.6 out of 4.0 Hereafter, thereafter or whatever.