19/22
Based on the comic strip “Here” by Richard McGuire
Plot
A generational story about families and the special place they live in, sharing love, loss, laughter and life. It was first published as a strip in the New York comics magazine “Raw” in 1989, and was expanded into a 300-page graphic novel in 2014. The setting is Philadelphia, but the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs is shown hitting the same area. That asteroid landed in what is now the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
Clarinet Concerto, Pts
[from the trailer] Richard: You know, if you want, you could spend the rest of the night here. Margaret: I could spend the rest of my life here. Features Toast of the Commune (1948). 1 & 2Written by Artie ShawPerformed by Artie Shaw and His OrchestraCourtesy of RCA RecordsBy arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment.
of land before the house was built, including a Native American tribe
‘Here’ is the fifth film directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, and while it’s not a 2.5 hour epic spanning 3 decades like ‘Forrest Gump’, it somehow manages to cover 65 million years. This is done through the film’s device of having the camera positioned in one spot, focusing on the living room of a house built in the early 19th century (presumably in New Jersey, USA), which includes some flashbacks to what was there on that spot. We then follow about 5 families at various points and their lives in the living room. It’s not all linear, but it’s not too confusing either, with the main plot following Al (Bettany) and Rose (Reilly) purchasing the house after World War II.
The editing is sometimes good, but often unnecessarily annoying
They raise their 4 children there, with Richard (Hanks) played by a de-aged/’Big’ era Hanks at about 16 years old. Then he meets old Margaret (Wright) and we follow them as they age in the house over the decades. There are some cute moments, some funny bits and some sad scenes. Even though it’s a relatively short film, it probably didn’t need at least two of those storylines!
It’s trying to portray the little moments in life that add up to the human experience
It gets close, but because of the jumps you don’t get too attached to anyone, so the intensity is lost.
