Here

Here Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, and Kelly Reilly

Director: Robert Zemeckis

What’s Good: The concept is fascinating, and watching Zemeckis and his actors try to get the idea right is also quite compelling, but once the movie starts, it stumbles every single time.

What’s Bad: Execution is king, and Zemeckis fails to translate his screenplay to the screen. The use of CGI makes everything look fake and overproduced.

Loo Break: After the middle point, the movie loses its plot quickly, making staying engaged difficult.

Watch or Not?: This is a skip as better art pieces, including the original graphic novel, execute this idea better.

Language: English (with subtitles).

Available On: Theaters

Runtime: 104 Minutes.

User Rating:

Opening:
Robert Zemeckis is one of the greatest American filmmakers of all time; there is no doubt about that. He dares to go the extra mile to create new experiences, using the latest technology and finding a way to make films different. Still, unlike James Cameron, who lives by the same philosophy, Zemeckis struggles to find a way to make his movies good, especially in the last couple of decades, as the goodwill he gained from his previous masterpieces might be running out at this point.

Here Movie Review: Script Analysis

Zemeckis takes the role of screenwriter along with Eric Roth, another great writer who just this year saw incredible success with his collaboration with Denis Villeneuve in Dune Part 2. Both of them take the challenge of adapting the original graphic novel created by Richard McGuire.

The movie tells us the story of one particular place in North America, and we see how this spot changes with the times, starting with the primordial Earth and ending in the 21st century. This is a great idea, and watching the transitions between the periods is interesting, at least during the first 30 minutes. However, the movie reveals quickly that this is all there is: transitions between characters and stories that don’t gel very well and make following the story a bit of a chore.

The original graphic novel has the advantage of being a comic, a medium where the reader can turn the page as fast or slow as they want. Alan Moore, another famous comic book writer, did the same with his novel Voice of the Fire. Still, in the same way, a reader can choose to read slow, fast, or rest whenever they like. The concept must be more convincing, relaxed, and varied in movie form.

The story jumps just too many times between periods, never staying in any period for too long, which makes it hard to connect with the characters of their stories, and on top of that, the writing becomes just too convenient and theatrical after the middle point. You can see the film struggling to justify its length, and it never entirely does it, which is sad because for a movie that is just about the 90-minute mark without credits, Here feels quite long.

Here Movie Review: Star Performance

Even if the execution of the concept is a failure, Zemeckis is lucky enough to have a great cast of actors who ultimately carry the film on their shoulders. The actors cannot save the movie from becoming monotonous, but catching all of them doing their best is worth it. Tom Hanks and Robin Wright are, of course, the best ones, and when they are on-screen, you become a bit compelled by the story because otherwise, everything is too dull.

Paul Bettany and Kelly Reilly do the best they can. Still, their story is way less original, thanks to Hanks and Wright, and in the process, they don’t stand out as much, which is sad because they are excellent actors. Still, the nature of the script doesn’t translate well on screen, as all the big moments are pushed to this one room of the house, and the actors have to make it as believable as they can, but they can only do so much before the immersion breaks.