Robert Zemeckis' "HERE"
Review by Dennis D. McDonald
A decade ago, Robin Wright starred in a motion picture named The Congress. She played a washed up middle-aged actress named "Robin Wright" who, having once been an A-list star of films such as The Princess Bride, now sees her career in decline.
She needs money. She's approached by a producer who will pay her handsomely to digitally scan her and use her digital self as the basis for a series of films. The only catch of the lucrative contract is that the real Robin Wright can never again act physically as she ages.
Fast-forward to 2024. In Robert Zemeckis’ Here we see Robin Wright, Tom Hanks, Paul Bettany, and others digitally aged and de-aged flawlessly to illustrate the comings and goings of several generations of a family and house built in 1900 on historic land.
The digital special effects in this film are more impressive than those used in Benjamin Button. Seeing a 20-something Tom Hanks acting front and center is nothing short of miraculous. Also, the film makes excellent use of overlapping frames to superimpose rectangular views showing parts of the living room on the same movie screen across different time periods.
While this is may be a “non-action” film, you should see on his big screen as possible given the amount of period detail on display.
That said, the technology and techniques of display here are not what is most impressive. Recognizably mundane life events are portrayed--birth, death, planned and unplanned pregnancies, failure, unemployment, success, despair, aging parents, they're all here. There's even a chilling presentation of a black father giving his young son "the talk."
It's a powerful and engaging movie due largely to the recognizability of what is portrayed. To anyone old enough to have experienced many of the events portrayed here, this movie will resonate.
Review copyright (c) 2024 by Dennis D. McDonald