'Here' review: 'Forrest Gump' filmmaker Robert Zemeckis reunites with Tom Hanks and Robin Wright for complex family story stuck somewhere in time – AFI Fest

Robert Zemeckis clearly has a thing for time—past, present, and Back to the Future. With a filmography that also includes films Polar Express And especially his Oscar-winning Best Picture forrest gump, The director likes to blend new filmmaking techniques with relatable stories that play with our perception of life over time. He really dives deep into this theme in his ambitious 2014 adaptation of Richard McGuire's graphic novel, here, which does no Send his cast of Century+ characters back in time, rather than allow the time to come their On a piece of land, then a house throughout the 20th century, a little earlier and a little later. The great French director Claude Lelouch did something similar in 1974's epic romance And now my love Where a couple's chance meeting at first sight is memorized by a century of generations we meet whose varied lives all lead up to that one moment.

here It takes the idea of ​​focusing the audience's attention on a specific place in the universe as we see people come and go through triumph, happiness, sadness, heartache and above all. the family Set in a house from the early 1900s and continuing to this day. Indeed the film begins briefly in the age of the dinosaurs, moves to the land of the Native Americans, to none other than Benjamin Franklin and his children, and finally to this one house where Zemeckis has boldly set his camera in a stable position. To capture all these people in their daily lives in front Between us, it's almost like we're watching a play. Actually I kept thinking here A set will make for a great theatrical piece with opportunities for dramatic changes of scenery as the actors come and go constantly into the action. But instead Zemeckis and his Forrest Gump Oscar-winning co-writer Eric Roth helms the movie, and even with a still camera manages to keep it visually interesting, using panels of different moments that constantly pop up on screen while encompassing scenes, time periods, and characters. This tapestry of humanity.

Along the way we meet Pauline in 1908 (of Downton Abbey Michelle Dockery), a well-to-do woman worried about her flight-obsessed husband. We also meet a couple who live in a crowded version of the house who stumble upon a million-dollar marketing idea that turns out to be Lazy Boy Loungers. An African American family moved in more recently. But the main focus is ultimately on our stars and their extended families, including Al (Paul Bettany) who has returned wounded from World War II, started a family with housewife Rose (Kelly Reilly), with their son Richard, a war- A typical marriage of later times. (Hanks) who we watch grow up, finds teenage love with schoolmate Margaret. She becomes pregnant and thus the couple are married very young and live with Al and Rose, a situation that becomes strained as they must raise daughter Vanessa and earn money to support a family, Richard's artistic ambitions. And Margaret's own dreams have to be put on hold. Adventure out of this house.

It takes a while to get into the groove here Which imagines what the walls of houses could look like through the revolving doors of people in different eras. It took me a while to warm up to what at first seems a bit gimmicky, zipping us back and forth into these different lives but never getting to know them enough to invest in their labors, it's not until the second half of the film when Hanks and Wright's story takes center stage. Both stars are brilliantly digitally de-aged to play their younger selves, and are made to look older at other points, with other moments not requiring makeup treatment. They are flawless, even if their own marriages travel along fairly predictable paths, Living together, breaking up, depression, health problems, stuff In the middle of life TV, from a black and white 50's model, to a color set, a large screen television on the wall tells us where these families are in the scheme of things, such as Thanksgiving dinner, the film rewinds and the scenes outside the over large windows change because We see horse-drawn carriages give way to automobiles and a busy area in the background of the main action.

The use of these panels to constantly change things, some big, some small, focuses on where we're going in this house which is a production designer's dream assignment and PD Ashley Lamont keeps it buzzing. actually house It's as big a star as any human being. Editor Jesse Goldsmith deserves credit for some very complex film editing with those panels being a more modest version of what Norman Jewison used. The Thomas Crown Affair. That 1968 film had it all for style. Zemeckis wants the device to keep the action flowing and the separate stories unified. His frequent composer Alan Silvestri is another Gump Experienced provides a vibrant uplifting score that helps.

Outside of Hanks and Wright giving fine performances as usual, Bettany, and to a lesser degree, Riley are the only supporting players with any kind of significant roles, especially Bettany as a person driven to drink too much and full of regrets she doesn't want. to go to his son.

here It's a noble experiment, and a welcome dose of originality in a year full of sequels, even if it doesn't quite work on every level. For me I tried hard to resist its emotional pull, but eventually I succumbed to it and shed multiple tears thinking about our ever-changing place in this world and how to hold on to what is good in us. This life, even in the darkness of time.

and in the soul here Sitting in the iconic Chinese Theater at last night's AFI Fest debut, I thought of all the incredible classic films that have played in this single location during Hollywood's storied history and wondered what story? this Walls can tell about leaving the premiere.

Producers for Miramax and Image Movers are Zemeckis, Derek Hough, Jack
Rapke, and Bill Block.

Title: here

Festival: AFI Fest

Distributor: Sony Pictures (Tri Star)

Release Date: November 1, 2024

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Screenplay: Eric Roth and Robert Zemeckis

Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly, Michelle Dockery, Nicky Amuka-Bird

Rating: PG13

Running time: 1 hour and 44 minutes